By Daisy Barringer

Thanks to yesterday’s 40-21 rout of Seattle, the 49ers are still alive in the NFC West. That’s right people: It appears that someone aboard the 49ers Miracle Playoff Express Commuter Train has been reading “The Little Engine That Could” aloud at story time and now our once lackadaisical little locomotive THINKS IT CAN. In fact, I think is can because we’re only one game behind co-leaders Seattle and St. Louis who both have tough games ahead of them. Now, I get that most of you stopped watching 49er football weeks ago due to the fact that the 49ers, for lack of a better word, suck, so I’ll break this down for you:

1. The 49ers are 5-8.
2. Seattle & St. Louis are both 6-7.
3. Therefore, the 49ers, who went 0-5 at the beginning of the season, have a shot to host a first-round playoff game.
4. Regardless of who comes out victorious in this battle of the misfits, it is becoming highly likely that the NFC West will be the first division EVER to send a team with a losing record to the playoffs.
5. Sigh.

While you were probably right to stop watching football (not really, though, since people who chose to do things like, say, go outside and enjoy the day instead of suffering in misery with the rest of us are completely lame and don’t deserve to call themselves fans), you were also probably wrong. While you were brunching at Foreign Cinema, hiking in Marin, and searching for all of the Banksys now that you finally saw “Exit Through the Gift Shop,” it appears the San Francisco 49ers spent their entire season in the playoff hunt for the first time since 2002.

Oops. Your bad.