The 49ers will get to spend Christmas morning with their families before the players report to the team’s Santa Clara practice facility in the afternoon.
The 49ers, who clinched a playoff spot Monday night with a 34-24 victory over the Atlanta Falcons, will not practice on Wednesday. The club returns to action in the regular-season finale on Sunday at the Arizona Cardinals.
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“They’ll be able to enjoy Christmas during the morning and then we’ll bring them in at 2 o’clock for meetings and that’ll be meetings only,” 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh said on Tuesday.
The 49ers, currently on a five-game win streak, are still alive in their quest to win the NFC West for a third consecutive season. If the 49ers (11-4) win at Arizona and the Seattle Seahawks (12-3) lose at home to the St. Louis Rams, the 49ers would win the West. The 49ers owns the tie-breaker edge over Seattle based on a better record in division games.
With a division title, the 49ers would be guaranteed no worse than the No. 2 seed, a bye in the first round of the playoffs and at least one more game at Candlestick Park.
The 49ers could achieve the No. 1 seed in the NFC with a victory, a Seattle loss and a Carolina Panthers (11-4) loss at the Falcons on Sunday morning.
The 49ers will be the No. 5 seed in the playoffs with a win over Arizona and a Seattle victory. They’d also be the No. 5 seed with a loss to Arizona and a New Orleans loss at home against Tampa Bay.
The 49ers would be the No. 6 seed with a loss to Arizona and a New Orleans victory.
As a wild-card entry, the 49ers would open the playoffs on Jan. 4 or 5 at the winner of the NFC East (Philadelphia or Dallas) or NFC North (Chicago or Green Bay).
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Harbaugh said nothing that happens around the NFL on Sunday will impact how the 49ers approach Sunday’s game against the Cardinals, who need a victory and a New Orleans loss to enter the playoffs as the No. 6 seed.
“Too much at stake. Too big of a game,” Harbaugh said. “As you know, too many things can happen and there’s too much at stake.”
The Carolina-Atlanta game is scheduled for a 10 a.m. (PT) kickoff, while 49ers-Arizona, St. Louis-Seattle and Tampa Bay-New Orleans are scheduled to kick off at 1:25 p.m.
