The San Francisco 49ers' Week 10 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers should not be confused with a football masterclass.
San Francisco missed three field goals, fumbled a punt, went one for three in the red zone and committed four defensive penalties for 39 yards on Tampa Bay's game-winning drive late in the fourth quarter.
While the win may puzzle some as to how good this 49ers team is, they needed to get a win to be in the thick of the NFC playoff hunt.
On Monday night, they got a little help from the Miami Dolphins. They defeated the Los Angeles Rams 23-15, moving them to 4-5 on the season. This means the NFC West standings look like this after 10 weeks:
1. Cardinals (6-4)
2. 49ers (5-4)
3. Rams (4-5)
4. Seahawks (4-5)
A loss for the 49ers would have left them in third place and even further behind the Arizona Cardinals for the division lead, and Arizona has a relatively easy schedule ahead of them after their Week 11 bye. Keeping up with them was a big deal for the 49ers.
San Francisco also moved up in the overall NFC playoff picture. They're still out of the top seven, but a wild-card spot seems far more attainable now than if they had lost Sunday's game at Tampa Bay.
At 5-4, the 49ers are one game behind the Green Bay Packers for the seventh and final playoff spot. Here's what the NFC playoff picture looks like after Week 10:
1. Lions (8-1)
2. Eagles (7-2)
3. Falcons (6-4)
4. Cardinals (6-4)
5. Vikings (7-2)
6. Commanders (7-3)
7. Packers (6-3)
8. 49ers (5-4)
9. Bears (4-5)
10. Rams (4-5)
11. Seahawks (4-5)
The 49ers may not be quite where they wanted to be, but the win in Week 10 puts them in position to make a run and gives themselves a little margin for error when playing any of their upcoming games against the Seahawks, Packers or Bills lose.
Sunday may not have been pretty, but the 49ers got the win they needed. Now they need to find ways to play better down the stretch to take advantage of their spot heading into Week 11.
