A year ago, the San Francisco 49ers were heading down the stretch drive in the competitive NFC West Division race. After a Week 15 loss to the Atlanta Falcons, who those with math degrees knew didn’t matter in the big scheme of things, the Niners needed to close out their regular season with wins over the Los Angeles Rams and Seattle Seahawks to lock up the top seed in the National Football Conference playoffs.
Neither win came easy.
The Rams relished their role as a spoiler while looking for some redemption to a disappointing campaign following their Super Bowl appearance the previous season. The Rams battled San Francisco to the finish at Levi’s Stadium. The 49ers won their last scheduled home game in a primetime victory over Jared Goff and company, 34-31.
The next week, in another telecast in prime time, the 49ers closed out the regular season in Seattle against the Seahawks. With a win, they would earn a Wild Card Weekend bye and host games as long as they survived in the NFC playoffs.
The Niners coasted to an early lead against the Seahawks on the road, and took a commanding 13-0 lead into the halftime locker room. Then, in a performance that seemed to show San Francisco should have saved some of that champagne for after the game, the Niners came out flat for the second half.
Giving Russell Wilson life is a real bad idea.