Niners weigh up week off for starters

SANTA CLARA, California — The toughest decisions in Week 18 for San Francisco coach Kyle Shanahan will come well before the game when he decides whether any of his star players will get the week off to rest up for the postseason.

The 49ers are in that enviable position after beating Washington 27-10 on Sunday and then watching Arizona upset Philadelphia, clinching the No 1 seed for San Francisco.

It was easier to earn this bye than it was four years ago when it took a Dre Greenlaw tackle at the 1 in the closing seconds to seal a win at Seattle that gave the Niners the No 1 seed.

So this will be the first time as a head coach that Shanahan heads into the playoffs with nothing at stake in the final regular-season game.

"When you give guys the game off, practice changes, too. That can end up hurting guys a lot and you end up just developing bad habits," he said. "I've seen it cost a lot of teams. Also, it does give some guys a chance to get healthy."

Several players nursing injuries, most notably star running back Christian McCaffrey, will take advantage of the situation and rest up before San Francisco's playoff opener at home in the divisional round on either Jan 20 or 21.

But he hasn't decided whether key players such as quarterback Brock Purdy, left tackle Trent Williams, edge rusher Nick Bosa or receiver Deebo Samuel will also get the week off.

But no matter what, they all will get off wild-card weekend thanks to the bounce-back performance against Washington that followed a home loss to Baltimore on Christmas night.

"It's huge just in terms of our bodies and being able to rest and recover," Purdy said. "There are a lot of guys on our team that have given so much this whole season, week in and week out. And to be able to get a little break is huge. We haven't really had one since the bye week. So, this part of the season, every team's gone through it, but for us to be able to lock up that one seed and get guys healthy going into playoffs is huge for us."

Purdy responded well to his four-interception game against the Ravens. He went 22 for 28 for 230 yards (210 meters), two touchdowns and no turnovers against the Commanders. He also set the single-season franchise record for passing yards with 4,280, breaking the mark of 4,278 set by Jeff Garcia in 2000.

What's working

Opening drives. The 49ers got a field goal on the opening drive to give them a league-best 69 points in first drives this season.

San Francisco has scored nine TDs and two field goals on the first drive of the game. The only teams since at least 2000 to score more on the opening drive are the 2020 Packers (73 points) and the 2007 Patriots (71).

What needs help

The 49ers have struggled on punt returns ever since Ray-Ray McCloud's rib injury. Rookie Ronnie Bell did have a 16-yard return against Washington, but he failed to catch a 55-yard punt downed inside the 20 and had no gain on his other return. McCloud is returning to practice and could be ready for the playoffs.

Agencies via Xinhua