San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy walks off the field after an NFL football game against the Seattle Seahawks in Santa Clara, Calif., Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026.

With Saturday’s 13-3 defeat against the Seahawks, the San Francisco 49ers now enter the waiting game to find out their postseason future, which has exactly one ideal outcome: starting with the NFC South champion.

There’s quite a gulf between the winner of that division and the rest of the conference. While the exact title-holder is yet to be determined — like the Niners, the Buccaneers and Panthers have to wait for Sunday’s games to learn what the rest of their January holds — the eventual champ will have an 8-9 record and a negative scoring differential. Compare that to the Bears and Eagles, who will enter the postseason with at least 11 wins and a positive point differential. The Niners also beat the Panthers pretty handily in Week 12, and only fell to the Bucs, who have since lost a starting offensive lineman and cornerback for the season, in........

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