We’ll dig into the NFC Playoff Picture more on Wednesday. For now, we’ll stick with Week 14. The San Francisco 49ers travel to New Orleans to face the Saints. The Niners can clinch a playoff berth with a win and or a tie plus a Rams loss or a tie before you look at the schedule that sounds great. Of course, you want that to happen. Not so fast. The Rams are on Sunday night football against the Seahawks, who currently sit atop the NFC West. I think we can all agree on waiting to celebrate the 49ers clinching the playoffs if it means the Seahawks losing on Sunday night.

San Francisco is one of six teams that can clinch a playoff berth this weekend. Baltimore, Buffalo, Kansas City, New England, and Seattle all can as well. Before complaining about being 10-2 and currently in the fifth seed, a valid argument, take some time to appreciate how the 49ers are going to make the postseason for the first time since 2014. When we made our predictions to start the season, not one person would have been angry with a playoff berth. We’re still a few weeks from figuring the seeding out, but what matters is San Francisco will be one of the six teams in the playoffs. I’m in the belief that the Niners win out and will have a bye. If they win out, the 49ers will finish 14-2 and have the top seed. I’m also in the belief that, if there’s an NFC team that can go to the Super Bowl from the Wildcard round, it’s the Niners. They’re literally built to win in the playoffs. I’ll save my rant about Seattle for the playoff picture. Spoiler: their luck will run out eventually.

In other news, the Panthers fired their head coach today. Ron Rivera was 1-4 in his last five games. Oh, how quickly things can change. Carolina came into their matchup against the 49ers 4-2 on a four-game winning streak. San Francisco dropped 50 on them, and they haven’t been right since. Like the playoff picture, a lot can change in a few weeks.