The San Francisco 49ers won two consecutive NFC West titles from 2022-2023, but an injury-riddled season dropped them to fourth place in 2024. Now they’re a game away from getting back on top of the division going into the playoffs.

The 49ers have already clinched at least a wild-card berth, making the playoffs for the fifth time in the past seven seasons under coach Kyle Shanahan. After falling short in the conference championship game and the Super Bowl twice each, they are trying to stay at home for the NFC playoffs, knowing that Super Bowl 60 also is set to be played at Levi’s Stadium.

Here’s an updated look at the 49ers’ division-winning outlook going into Week 18 of the 2025 NFL regular season:

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NFL playoff bracket 2026

Here’s a look at the current potential initial matchups for this year’s playoffs:

49ers playoff picture

The 49ers are No. 5 in the conference, despite having the second-most wins. The Bears and Eagles have already clinched division titles, and either the Panthers or Buccaneers will win the NFC South to host a wild-card home game.

The 49ers can finish either No. 1, No. 5 or No. 6 in the conference coming out of Week 18.

The 49ers have been a wild-card team once in their four previous playoff trips with Shanahan. In 2021, they lost to the NFC West and eventual Super Bowl 56 champion Rams in the conference championship game. 

SeedTeamRecord1Seattle Seahawks*13-32Chicago Bears*11-53Philadelphia Eagles*11-54Carolina Panthers8-85San Francisco 49ers*12-46Los Angeles Rams*11-57Green Bay Packers*9-6-18Minnesota Vikings – eliminated8-89Detroit Lions – eliminated8-810Dallas Cowboys – eliminated7-8-111Tampa Bay Buccaneers7-912Atlanta Falcons – eliminated7-913New Orleans Saints – eliminated6-1014Washington Commanders – eliminated4-1215Arizona Cardinals – eliminated3-1316New York Giants – eliminated3-13

*=clinched playoff spot

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NFC West standings

The 49ers are the best second-place team in the NFL, for whatever that’s worth. with their eyes on something much bigger in Week 18:

RankTeamRecord1Seattle Seahawks13-32San Francisco 49ers12-43Los Angeles Rams11-54Arizona Cardinals – eliminated3-1349ers clinching scenarios

The 49ers need to beat the Seahawks to win both the NFC West and the No. 1 seed, an all-or-nothing package deal. With a win, the 49ers (13-4) and Seahawks (13-4) would have even records, but the 49ers would have the tiebreaker based on a head-to-head sweep, as they also won at Seattle in Week 1.

If the 49ers lose, they would be 12-5. They would keep the No. 5 seed if the Rams lost the Cardinals on Sunday to fall tio 11-6. But if the Rams win to match the losing 49ers at 12-5, the Rams would hold the common-games tiebreaker, giving them the No. 5 and pushing the 49ers down one spot to No. 6, in third place in the division and only ahead of the Packers in the conference.