The San Francisco 49ers beat some good teams down the stretch with Jimmy Garoppolo starting at quarterback. They won their final five games of the season thanks to Garoppolo’s play and the morale boost that came with his arrival. Hopes are high going into the offseason, and expectations will place the 49ers as a potential playoff team a year from now.

That got me thinking about the current playoffs and the teams involved. This year has seen remarkable turnover in the playoffs, with a slew of teams snapping long droughts and many staples of years past not making it. By the time this article goes up, the first two games will have been played, between the Tennessee Titans and Kansas City Cheifs as well as the Atlanta Falcons and Los Angeles Rams.

On Sunday, the Buffalo Bills and Jacksonville Jaguars will face off, as will the Carolina Panthers and New Orleans Saints. That will be the end of the wild card round, and then the Pittsburgh Steelers, New England Patriots, Minnesota Vikings and Philadelphia Eagles will get into the fold in the divisional round.

When the season ended, I saw multiple people on Twitter saying that the 49ers were the best team to miss the playoffs, and some joking that the 49ers were the actual sixth seeds in the NFC. That got me thinking ... are there any teams in the playoffs right now that I think the 49ers can beat?

Off the top of my head, I think the 49ers have what it takes to shut down the Chiefs ... and there’s the Titans and Jaguars, teams the 49ers already beat. Add the Buffalo Bills into the mix, and we’re left with the Falcons, Panthers, Saints and Rams. The 49ers beat the Rams while the latter was resting some of their starters, but I could see this 49ers team winning that game.

Carolina is flawed and very beatable. The Saints might be the best team in the wild card round, and I suspect Drew Brees would light up the San Francisco defense. It would be ugly, and not even Garoppolo can keep up with Brees slinging. The Falcons are a tough team on both sides of the ball and I just think they’re better than the 49ers right now.

What about you?