Looking Ahead to the 49ers' Playoff Picture

The 49ers currently own the No. 1 seed in the NFC and, if they win out, they'll have homefield throughout the playoffs and a bye during the wild card round.

But even if the 49ers don't win out, they seem to have an easy road to the Super Bowl, because the NFC is horrific -- only 5 of the 16 teams currently are over .500. And of those 5 teams, the 49ers have blown out two of them, the Cowboys and the Eagles. If the 49ers face either of those teams in the playoffs, the 49ers should win.

The other teams over .500 in the NFC are the Lions and the Vikings. The 49ers haven't faced the Lions, but they've lost two of their past three games and seem weaker than their 9-4 record indicates. Meanwhile, the Vikings beat the 49ers earlier this season, but that's when their quarterback was Kirk Cousins, who's out for the season with an Achilles injury. Now their quarterback is Nick Mullens, who used to play for the 49ers and probably won't beat them in a playoff game.

Realistically, the only team in the NFC that can beat the 49ers is themselves.

So who can beat them in the Super Bowl, assuming they get there?

Patrick Mahomes always has a chance to beat the 49ers, considering he's 3-0 against them in his career. But the Chiefs are reeling and seem weaker than they've been in years.

The Dolphins just lost to the Titans, so forget them.

The Ravens might be able to hang with the 49ers, and we'll find out on Christmas night when these teams face each other.

If the 49ers blow out Baltimore, there might not be a team in the NFL that can keep up with them.