The 49ers received some help from the Arizona Cardinals to clinch the NFC's No. 1 playoff seed on Sunday, and star linebacker Fred Warner made sure to show his gratitude.
"We were all in there watching those final seconds," Warner said postgame of Arizona's down-to-the-wire 35-31 stunner over the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field. "Thank you Cardinals."
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Immediately after San Francisco handled business and pulled out the 27-10 victory against the Washington Commanders at FedExField, players rushed to the locker room to watch the final moments of the Arizona vs. Philadelphia nail-biter.
The Eagles' collapse dropped their record to 11-5 on the season and secured the 49ers' top spot in the NFC. San Francisco now is guaranteed a first-round bye and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.
San Francisco last clinched the No. 1 seed in the 2019 season, and as Warner attested to, that was much different than this time around.
"Just thinking about it, back in '19, it took us winning in Seattle [against the Seahawks] on the very last play of the game to secure the one-seed. And the fact that we were able to get it with one game left in the season is big," Warner said. "We still got to continue to get better. It's not about just completely removing ourselves and we're just going to rest everybody.
San Francisco 49ers
"I mean [49ers coach] Kyle [Shanahan], he's obviously in charge of all that and I don't know what his plan is with everything. The message from him was we're going to continue to get better. We got to make sure we're our best when our best is needed for when our moment comes."
That moment, hopefully for Warner and the 49ers, will help lead them to Super Bowl glory, with a chance to win it all and bring the Lombardi Trophy back to the Bay.
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