Who do the 49ers play next in the NFL Playoffs?

The San Francisco 49ers have advanced to the NFC Divisional Round after beating the Seattle Seahawks at home on Saturday evening.

Though the Seattle Seahawks gave them a game early on, the San Francisco 49ers proved too much for the lowly No. 7 seed in their NFC Wild Card matchup, winning 41-23.

This was the third meeting between NFC West rivals this season. While the Seahawks played the 49ers well for the better part of three quarters, there is a reason no No. 7 seed has beaten a No. 2 seed in the expanded NFL postseason format to date. Regardless, Seattle massively overachieved in a rebuilding season, while San Francisco persevered after multiple starting quarterback injuries.

So with the 49ers advancing to the NFC Divisional Round, who is San Francisco playing next week?

NFL postseason: San Francisco 49ers’ next opponent in the NFC playoffs

Since the 49ers are the No. 2 seed, they are guaranteed to host next week’s divisional round matchup. They only way they would play a road playoff game before the Super Bowl is if they were to meet the top-seeded Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Championship Game. Because they eliminated the Seahawks on Saturday evening, San Francisco will host one of these three teams:

• No. 3 Minnesota Vikings
• No. 4 Tampa Bay Buccaneers
• No. 5 Dallas Cowboys

If the No. 3 Minnesota Vikings defeat the No. 6 New York Giants at home on Sunday afternoon, Minnesota will be coming to Levi’s Stadium next week in the divisional round. This is because San Francisco will host the best advancing team, whereas Philadelphia will draw the worst team  advancing past Wild Card Weekend out of the NFC. It is only fair to the Eagles for it to be like this.

However, should the Giants upset the Vikings in Minneapolis, San Francisco would then draw the winner of the Monday night game between the No. 4 Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the No. 5 Dallas Cowboys. The good news for 49ers fans is they could know who San Francisco is playing before the sun sets out on the West Coast, assuming the Vikings can get it done at home vs. the Giants.

If New York plays spoiler, then all eyes will be on the Monday night game between the Cowboys and Buccaneers. Should New York advance, the Giants will go to Philadelphia. If Minnesota holds serve, the Vikings are coming to San Francisco. As far as the Cowboys and Buccaneers game is concerned, it is all contingent on the No. 3 vs. No. 6 game happening Sunday over in Minneapolis.

For now, the 49ers will either host the Vikings, the Buccaneers or the Cowboys, but not the Giants.