The 49ers are 6-4, but the next four games will make or break their hopes for the playoffs.
Los Angeles Rams v San Francisco 49ers | Ezra Shaw/GettyImages
_**The 49ers are still in a good playoff position despite the loss to the Rams, with the next four games all contests where the Niners will be favored and should (hopefully) win most if not all of them.**_
Plenty will be made about the San Francisco 49ers' 42-26 loss to the Los Angeles Rams, some of it overreaction and some of it warranted. It's something at the end of the day that can be pointed to the defense just simply not having the personnel to shut down the high-powered Rams with a bad raft of defensive injuries making it a skeleton crew.
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But the broader truth is something else, too: The Niners are sitting at 6-4. There's been plenty of hard games San Francisco had to battle through, and now there's suddenly a nice little patch on the horizon that could make or break the 49ers playoff schedule. Given the tight state of the NFC, it's not inconceivable the next four games could be the difference between missing the playoffs and winning the division.
Maybe even make a run at the No. 1 seed on unlikely fashion, depending on other results.
49ers schedule for the next 4 games
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The next four games look a lot less daunting than the previous four the Niners endured:
* Week 11 @ Arizona Cardinals
* Week 12 vs. Carolina Panthers
* Week 13 @ Cleveland Browns
* Week 15 vs. Tennessee Titans
It's not without difficulties. Arizona is solid on its day, Carolina is a surprise packet, the Browns defense is exceptional and Tennessee is capable at its best.But the 49ers will be favored to win all four of their games, most likely. If the Niners can go 3-1, then the team goes 9-5. Winning all four means 10-4 and most likely a playoff spot as it is, albeit in a tough division.The point is, setting themselves up here would give them some wiggle room for the final games leading into the playoffs. All they need is to win three, if not four of this relatively easier part of the schedule.Do that, and they will be well on the way of doing something that people thought was impossible: get into the playoffs on a roster that's been held together physically with a lot of tape and praying to the benevolent football gods to spare us for a change.
If that isn't a good target for San Francisco, nothing is.