When the New York Giants defeated the Minnesota Vikings in the Wild-Card Round of the NFC playoffs on Sunday, the 49ers’ coaching staff got to work.
It narrowed the list of possible 49ers’ opponents for the NFC Divisional Playoff to two teams: The Dallas Cowboys and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The 49ers will face the winner of Monday night’s game in Tampa on Sunday at Levi’s Stadium at 3:30 p.m. PT.
“I’ll probably just sit back and relax tonight when that (game) starts and watch the TV copy like a normal person,” 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said Monday morning of the Cowboys-Buccaneers game.
Shanahan said a lot of the advance work will be done before kick off on Monday night, so the staff can quickly install game plans when their opponent is known.
The coaching staff was busy breaking down video of both teams Monday morning. The work would be mostly completed in the late afternoon, Shanahan said.
“We’ll be watching a lot of film of both Dallas and Tampa,” Shanahan said on the conference call with Bay Area reporters.
San Francisco 49ers
“And by the time it gets to them, we’ll probably have watched enough on both teams to where now we’re just waiting on the end of that game.”
The 49ers advanced past the first round of the playoffs with a 41-23 victory over the Seattle Seahawks on Saturday at Levi’s Stadium.
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The 49ers would have played host to the No. 3-seed Minnesota Vikings, if they had beaten the Giants. However, the Giants' 31-24 victory ensures that the top-seed Philadelphia Eagles will match up against the NFC's lowest-remaining seed.
Instead of the certainty of beginning the new week knowing what opponent awaits them, the 49ers must go into a holding pattern until the Cowboys-Buccaneers game finishes.