National Football League

49ers’ motivation in final month: Secure No. 1 seed, home-field advantage

Published Dec. 13, 2023 5:31 p.m. ET

At 10-3, the San Francisco 49ers are the first team this season to clinch a postseason berth and currently hold the No. 1 seed in the NFC. With runaway wins over the Dallas Cowboys (10-3) and the Philadelphia Eagles (10-3), the 49ers hold the tiebreaker over both teams.

Three of San Francisco's final four games are against teams with losing records, starting on Sunday with a road contest against the Arizona Cardinals (3-10). The Niners' toughest game will be a nationally televised Christmas night contest against the Baltimore Ravens.

"The only thing we can control is coming out and playing four quarters every Sunday and let the rest take care of itself," San Francisco left tackle Trent Williams said. "Right now, we should have blinders on and just worry about one opponent per week and focus on going 1-0."

Head coach Kyle Shanahan understands what home-field advantage would mean if the 49ers can lock that up over the next four weeks. Shanahan needs only to look back to last season, with both the Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs using the No. 1 seed and home-field advantage to help them earn spots in the Super Bowl. The last time the 49ers had the No. 1 seed was in 2019, and that season they reached the Super Bowl.

But Shanahan also doesn't want to get ahead of himself.

San Francisco's focus this week is on beating the Cardinals. A win would seal a second straight NFC West division title for San Francisco. At 6-7, the second-place Los Angeles Rams and Seattle Seahawks are four games back.

"I'll have a reaction when it is the No. 1 spot, if it is, because that's when the season ends," Shanahan told reporters this week when asked about seeding. "Right now, it doesn't mean much. It just means where you're at now.

"I know we won't be that if we don't handle business this week. So that's really all we're worried about this week, and then we'll move to who we play after that."

The 49ers are in the playoffs for the third year in a row and fourth time in the past five seasons. San Francisco has reached the NFC title game two straight years and three of the past four seasons.

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According to FOX Sports Stats and Research, out of 28 NFL playoff appearances in team history, the 49ers have been the No. 1 seed nine times. Four of those times, San Francisco won the Super Bowl. The only time the 49ers won a title when they were not a No. 1 seed was in 1988, when they defeated the Cincinnati Bengals 20-16 in Super Bowl XXIII.

Here's how the 49ers fared each time they have been the No. 1 seed.

1981 - won Super Bowl (first SB title) over Bengals 26-21
1984 - won Super Bowl (second SB title) over Dolphins 38-16
1987 - lost in divisional round to Vikings 36-24
1989 - Won Super Bowl (fourth SB title) over Broncos 55-10
1990 - lost NFC title game to Giants 15-13
1992 - lost NFC title game to Cowboys 38-21
1994 - won Super Bowl (fifth SB title) over Chargers 49-26
1997 - lost NFC title game 23-10 to Packers
2019 - lost Super Bowl 31-20 to Chiefs

Currently riding a five-game winning streak, the 49ers look like one of the most dominant teams in the league after recovering from a midseason swoon that included a three-game losing streak.

Quarterback Brock Purdy continues to dispel the notion that he's a system quarterback by injecting himself into the MVP conversation. He leads the league in passer rating (116.9), completion percentage (70.2) and yards per attempt (9.9). Purdy is also tied for second in the NFL in touchdown passes (25) and third in passing yards (3,553).

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Running back Christian McCaffrey leads the league with 1,177 rushing yards, has 17 total touchdowns and leads the NFL in scrimmage yards (1,614).

Defensively, the 49ers are holding teams to a league-low 78.3 rushing yards per game and allow an NFL-low 15.8 points per contest. San Francisco leads the league with a plus-11 turnover differential and are No. 7 in the NFL in sacks with 40.

Basically, the 49ers look like a juggernaut on a Super Bowl mission. But even a young player like Purdy understands there's more football to be played and anything can happen.

"Who doesn't want to play as the first seed with home-field advantage?" Purdy said. "We're taking it one day at a time and everything will fall into place."

Eric D. Williams has reported on the NFL for more than a decade, covering the Los Angeles Rams for Sports Illustrated, the Los Angeles Chargers for ESPN and the Seattle Seahawks for the Tacoma News Tribune. Follow him on Twitter at @eric_d_williams.