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:
MORE WEEK 18 NFL:
- NFL power rankings for Week 18
- NFL Week 18 picks, predictions
- NFL Week 18 picks against the spread
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.
| Seed | Team | Record |
| 1 | Seattle Seahawks* | 13-3 |
| 2 | Chicago Bears* | 11-5 |
| 3 | Philadelphia Eagles* | 11-5 |
| 4 | Carolina Panthers | 8-8 |
| 5 | San Francisco 49ers* | 12-4 |
| 6 | Los Angeles Rams* | 11-5 |
| 7 | Green Bay Packers* | 9-6-1 |
| 8 | Minnesota Vikings - eliminated | 8-8 |
| 9 | Detroit Lions - eliminated | 8-8 |
| 10 | Dallas Cowboys - eliminated | 7-8-1 |
| 11 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 7-9 |
| 12 | Atlanta Falcons - eliminated | 7-9 |
| 13 | New Orleans Saints - eliminated | 6-10 |
| 14 | Washington Commanders - eliminated | 4-12 |
| 15 | Arizona Cardinals - eliminated | 3-13 |
| 16 | New York Giants - eliminated | 3-13 |
*=clinched playoff spot
MORE: 2025 Fantasy Football Awards
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:
| Rank | Team | Record |
| 1 | Seattle Seahawks | 13-3 |
| 2 | San Francisco 49ers | 12-4 |
| 3 | Los Angeles Rams | 11-5 |
| 4 | Arizona Cardinals - eliminated | 3-13 |
49ers 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.