The 49ers have arguably the toughest two-game closing stretch among the teams in playoff positions. They face the Chicago Bears in Week 17 and then take on the Seattle Seahawks in Week 18. The Seattle-San Francisco regular-season finale could be the No. 1 overall seed in the NFC and the NFC West title.

Also notable in the early window is the NFL debut of rookie Quinn Ewers, starting in place of Tua Tagovailoa, who was benched after a dreadful Week 15 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers in primetime. Ewers, a seventh-round pick out of Texas, threw for 9,128 yards, 68 touchdowns and 24 interceptions over 36 games with the Longhorns.

Despite losing nine of their last 10 matchups with Tampa, Bleacher Report's panel is leaning towards Carolina.

This article was originally published on fansided.com as NFL Division power rankings: NFC West is powerhouse nobody wants to mess with.

The Jacksonville Jaguars will have a chance at winning the Super Bowl this season after earning a playoff spot following their win over the Broncos.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have been dominating the NFC South over the last five years, winning four straight division titles. Their run of success has continued despite Tom Brady's retirement and going from Bruce Arians to Todd Bowles as their head coach.