49ers' Rooting Guide for NFL Playoff Implications of Week 10

The San Francisco 49ers were able to kick back and use the bye week to rest in Week 9, but they still saw their playoff odds slightly increase.

According to FiveThirtyEight's projections, the 49ers went from having a 73 percent chance to make the postseason field to a 78 percent chance heading into Week 10. The Seahawks' win over the Arizona Cardinals hurt their chances of taking the division, though.

Those odds fell from 52 percent to 46 percent while the Niners watched from home.

Ultimately, San Francisco still has its destiny firmly in its possession. As long as it is able to start piling up the wins, it will be in postseason. If the season ended today, it would be the seventh seed in the NFC.

But it's fair to start looking around the league and start rooting for outcomes that are going to improve its positioning. Here are three games that could be key this week.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Seattle Seahawks draw the European game this week. They'll play early in the morning as the league puts on a game in Germany.

It's an important game for the Niners' chances to win the NFC West. FiveThirtyEight's projections drop San Francisco's odds of winning the division to just 36 percent if the Seahawks win. But the 49ers' odds jump to 56 percent with a Buccaneers win.

For Tampa, this is a prime opportunity to get back on track. It didn't look great in a 16-13 win against the Los Angeles Rams, but the victory put it in a position to take charge in the NFC South. The Falcons' loss to the Carolina Panthers on Thursday night only furthered that cause.

Beating the Seahawks won't be easy, though. Teams have found that out the hard way this year. Geno Smith's surprise renaissance at 32 years old along with rookies like Kenneth Walker III and Tariq Woolen having stellar first-years have them at 6-3 through nine weeks.

It's one of the league's most disappointing teams this season against one of the biggest surprises. The Niners should be hoping for Tom Brady and Co. to start looking like a Super Bowl contender again, at least for this week.

Rooting Interest: Buccaneers

The New York Giants' 6-2 start has put them directly in the Niners' path of a higher wild-card seed.

Brian Daboll's success in his first year with the Giants has been one of the most interesting stories of the year. On paper, they didn't look like a team capable of being in the playoff chase after going 4-13 last year.

However, the coach has put them in position to win, and they are the sixth seed in the NFC right now. But there's a chance the shine is about to wear off their strong start. Last week's 27-13 loss to the Seahawks was their worst loss of the season.

Up until that point, every game the Giants have played this season has been a one-score game. That's impressive in wins over the Ravens and Titans but more concerning when you look at narrow victories over the Carolina Panthers and Jacksonville Jaguars.

Basically, eight games into the season, it's still hard to tell if the Giants are actually good.

That brings us to a game against the current worst team in the league: the Houston Texans. A loss to Houston could start a downward spiral for the Giants and leave a big opening for the Niners to gain ground on their two-game deficit to the G-Men.

Rooting Interest: Houston Texans

This one is a bit of a double-edged sword for the Niners. On one hand, they are two games behind the Dallas Cowboys for the fifth seed. On the other, a win for the Green Bay Packers over a team like Dallas is one of the few things that could get them back in the wild-card race.

As of right now, the Packers are on life support. At 3-6, they are in 11th place in the NFC and are coming off a 15-9 loss to the lowly Detroit Lions. It's rock bottom.

A win over a 6-2 Cowboys team could inject some life into the team, and they have enough talent on paper to put together a run.

The odds of that happening seem increasingly unlikely, though.

The bigger, more realistic threat is the Cowboys running away with the fifth seed. Right now, that would set up a matchup with the struggling Tampa Bay Buccaneers or whoever comes out of a struggling NFC North.

That's the wild-card matchup to target, so the Niners should be rooting for a Packers upset here. It would cut the gap between the two teams down to just one game.

Rooting Interest: Packers