The San Francisco 49ers have been facing "must-win" games for a few weeks now. Since around Week 6 or so, to be exact, we at SB Nation Bay Area started adding the "crucial" tag in summaries and descriptions. Then it kind of went away for awhile as it didn't seem as though the Niners had a chance to make the playoffs. It's still a bit ludicrous to think they can, but looking at where they're at now, other teams around the league are in the same situations and they have a myriad of playoff scenarios playing out at every interval. They just have a few more wins total than the 49ers, so why shouldn't the NFC West be singing a similar tune?
So here we go! The 49ers have three games left and two of them are against division rivals in week sixteen and seventeen. Right here in week fifteen, they're taking on the San Diego Chargers in what is technically not a must-win game, but it's definitely a game we can all label as "crucial." If the 49ers do not beat the Chargers on Thursday Night Football and both the Seahawks and Rams win their games on Sunday, the 49ers are eliminated. If the 49ers do not win, they need the Seahawks and Rams to lose any two remaining games and also win their two remaining, which are against Arizona and St. Louis.
If the 49ers do beat the Chargers on Thursday, they can hope for two losses from Seattle and St. Louis on top of one more win for themselves to make it. If they beat the Chargers on Thursday, and then win out by winning their two remaining, they need only one loss from either team to make the playoffs.
So there are scenarios for winning, and in this stream we'll take a look at Seattle and St. Louis and their matchups this weekend. For now, the 49ers remain "in the fray," so you can do with that what you will.
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