Golden Nuggets: The drought is over

A collection of San Francisco 49ers related links for Tuesday, December 17th, 2019

By Ikaros@IkarosKapueo Dec 17, 2019, 2:00am PST

NFC Championship - San Francisco 49ers v Seattle Seahawks

The 49ers may have lost on Sunday, but that didn’t stop them from securing their first playoff berth since losing to the Seattle Seahawks in the 2014 NFC Championship Game. The 49ers still have work to do, however, as the first round bye would afford the team more time to get healthy. If they buy enough time, we could even see the return of Kwon Alexander, who was seen practicing on a side field.

#49ers LB Kwon Alexander seen on @BournePoly11 IG story doing some rehab.

Looks like recovery is going legendary. pic.twitter.com/KjWbie3gMW
— ourSF49ers (@OSf49ers) December 16, 2019

This team has come a long way since last year. I always start off each season wearing rose-colored glasses and declaring that this team is going to make the playoffs, but if I’m being honest, I thought they’d be around 9-7 and miss out on a wild card spot. Now we’re talking about them competing for the 1 Seed and home field advantage through the playoffs instead of the usual mock drafts this time of year. 49ers players even received the second most votes for the Pro Bowl, with 6 of them at the top of their position. Whatever happens in the coming months, this was a fun season to watch. What were your preseason expectations for the 49ers?

On to those links...

Packers, Seahawks, 49ers clinch berths with Rams loss (Jeremy Bergman, NFL.com)

NFL rumors: 49ers placed claim on Terrell Suggs, who was awarded to Chiefs (Alex Didion, NBC Sports)

49ers could benefit if Rams’ Greg Zuerlein misses game with quad strain (Brian Witt, NBC Sports)

Nick Bosa, George Kittle among six 49ers atop NFC in Pro Bowl voting (Matt Maiocco, NBC Sports)

Jimmy Garoppolo explains what went wrong in 49ers’ surprising home loss to Falcons (Jordan Dajani, CBS Sports)

Why Nick Bosa believes he let 49ers down in Week 15 loss vs. Falcons (Dalton Johnson, NBC Sports)

49ers’ defense gives them an edge over Seahawks, Deion Sanders says (Alex Didion, NBC Sports)

Josh Gordon suspended indefinitely two weeks before 49ers vs. Seahawks (Dalton Johnson, NBC Sports)

Why PFT believes the 49ers need a first-round playoff bye to make a Super Bowl run (David Bonilla, 49ers Webzone)

Around the league...

Drew Brees Was Perfect on a Record-Setting Night That He’ll Never Forget (Ben Pickman, Sports Illustrated)