The 5-6 San Francisco 49ers can afford only one more loss this season.
How they choose to use that loss is entirely up to them, but the short history of the 14-team play structure hasn’t been too kind to teams that have lost more than seven games.
The NFL moved to the 14-team playoff system for the 2020 season, and since then, 44 teams have finished with either seven, eight, or nine losses. Of those 44 teams, 20 made the playoffs. It shouldn’t come as a surprise, but the list of teams who made the playoffs is heavy with seven-loss teams instead of teams with nine.