The San Francisco 49ers are facing the final game of The Gauntlet, but if anyone watched the Monday night game where the Seattle Seahawks beat the Minnesota Vikings, they might have to win out if they are to take the NFC West. And if they can’t? Well, they would play the Dallas Cowboys.
Oh well, it could be worse.
If you didn’t catch the Cowboys loss to the Chicago Bears, you missed a game where Bears quarterback Mitch Trubisky didn’t look awful. Only the Cowboys could make Trubisky look like Jim McMahon, and the Bears laid a whopping on them 31-24. That score does not indicate how that game went as 17 of those points for Dallas were scored in the fourth quarter. Trubisky went 23/31, 244 yards and three touchdowns to one interception for a 115.5 passer rating.
The loss puts the Cowboys at 6-7 and a potential 7-9 NFC East division winner. That alone should demonstrate how bad the seeding rule is, but for what it’s worth, the 49ers would face Dallas in the wild card if the playoffs started this weekend. And if you saw that Cowboys team, that’s just fine with me.
There are two issues with the 49ers playing in the wild card: home-field advantage and injuries. The latter can’t be helped if they would be the fifth seed, but playing in Dallas against that Cowboys team? That could be a lot worse. You could be the Green Bay Packers playing the Minnesota Vikings. I don’t think anyone wants anywhere near Green Bay in the playoffs.
The Cowboys might not even have a coach. By all accounts, Jason Garrett is safe until the season is over, but you never know with Jerry Jones. He might up and can Garrett.
In any case, if the playoffs have the 49ers going to Dallas, that’s probably better than going to Green Bay. At least for the first round.
It’s still a bad rule, but it could be worse.