With playoff hopes teetering, can Christian McCaffrey, 49ers make a late push?

One of the NFL's most dominant teams in 2023, the San Francisco 49ers have let three fourth-quarter leads slip away this season — all losses to NFC West opponents.

The 49ers are 2-4 in one-score games, 5-5 overall and face one of the toughest schedules to finish the season. Can Kyle Shanahan right the ship in time for his team to make the postseason? 

The 49ers can lean on experience. During the 2022 season, they were 3-4 before reeling off 10 straight wins and reaching the NFC Championship Game. The year before that, they turned around a 6-6 season by winning four of their last five games and again reached the NFC title game, losing a heart-breaker to the Los Angeles Rams.

"You've got to make sure you got tough-minded people who can focus on really what their job is and nothing more than that," Shanahan said. "And it gets harder when you have adversity and you aren't getting as many W's as you want. But no matter how much harder it gets, you've got to always understand it's about the ball, and you've got to keep it about the ball and nothing else."

San Francisco is mired in a dogfight in the NFC West, tied with the Seahawks and Rams at 5-5, and a game behind the surprising 6-4 Cardinals. For the first time since 2002, all four NFC West teams have a .500-or-better record through Week 11. The Cardinals have the easiest schedule down the stretch, playing only one team that currently has a winning record. 

The reigning NFC West champs are technically in last place in the NFC West due to their 1-3 record within the division. And they face the fourth-toughest remaining schedule in the final seven games. 

San Francisco's tough road to reaching the postseason starts this Sunday on the road at Lambeau Field against the Green Bay