SANTA CLARA, Calif. — No strangers to deep postseason runs, the San Francisco 49ers know better than anyone the value of the NFC’s top seed.
The Niners have been to three of the past four NFC Championship Games. The only time they advanced to the Super Bowl was 2019, which was also the only time the team had the No. 1 seed, a first-round bye and homefield advantage throughout the playoffs.
It’s also why they never shied away from making the NFC’s No. 1 spot their top priority of the regular season. Despite a few bumps, the Niners accomplished that goal in Week 17, rested most of their starters in Week 18 and finished 12-5.
Now, they go through this week’s bye uncertain of their divisional round opponent — it will be either the No. 4-seed Tampa Bay Buccaneers, No. 5 Philadelphia Eagles, No. 6 Los Angeles Rams or No. 7 Green Bay Packers — but focused on getting healthy and cleaning up any lingering issues.
“This is the first week where we’re able to truly just look at what has hurt us in the past,” linebacker Fred Warner said. “What can we truly get better at this week and focus on?”
The Niners showed few flaws during the season, often looking the part of a juggernaut destined to land in the Super Bowl. However, there are few things that are cause for concern as the postseason nears.
Coming from behind
The 49ers jumped out to big leads in most of their 12 wins, rarely being forced into a comeback position in close and late situations. But when they have been in tense late-game spots, they’ve come up short.
In 17 games, the Niners trailed at halftime in three of them. They lost all three. They were behind entering the fourth quarter in four games. They lost all four of those, too. San Francisco was 12-2 in games it was either tied or leading at halftime, and one of those was a meaningless Week 18 game in which the Niners and Rams were resting starters.
49ers quarterback Brock Purdy hasn’t played particularly well in those situations, either. In the four games the Niners trailed through three quarters, Purdy was 24-of-44 for 353 yards in the fourth quarter with one touchdown pass and three interceptions, registering a 30.5 QBR.
It’s a small sample, but these Niners have struggled. To advance deep in the postseason, they’ll have to be able to win in different ways.
“That’s why we got to be so locked into these practices,” coach Kyle Shanahan said. “Just how we clean things up and make sure no matter what happens, no matter who comes here in a couple weeks. And no matter what type of game it is, whether it’s a shootout, a game of field goals, whatever it is, that we’re up for whatever it takes to win it.”