- Editor's Note: Each week, NBC Sports Bay Area 49ers insider Matt Maiocco will preview the upcoming matchup and key storylines heading into Sunday's game. For more takeaways and features from Maiocco, visit NBCSportsBayArea.com.
Many of those in the 49ers traveling party – players, coaches and staff – will have a special treat waiting for them when they return to Arizona from their short business trip to Dallas.
There has been nothing normal about this season.
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And the end is near.
But it's not the kind of end the 49ers envisioned when they set out on this unique football journey. Unless the 49ers run the table and get some help along the way, the season will end on Jan. 3 – the final day of the regular season.
And it will end in Arizona – the site of their games in Weeks 13, 14, 16 and 17.
The 49ers can keep their faint postseason hopes alive against the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday.
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And if they do, the return to Arizona will be that much sweeter.
Coach Kyle Shanahan made only one promise to his team when they moved to Arizona: You will not be forced to spend Christmas without your families.
And that promise has been kept.