A transformer blows at Candlestick Park in San Francisco on Monday night prior to the Steelers/49ers contest.

Amidst a pair of power outages at Candlestick Park, the 49ers defeated Pittsburgh on Monday night and gave a bit more clarity to the AFC playoff picture in the process.

As a result of Pittsburgh’s missed opportunity, the New England Patriots will be locked in to the AFC’s top seed if they win out.

Across conference lines in the NFC, Atlanta and Detroit both have two game leads over the closest competitors in the wild card battle.

Despite their loss, Green Bay is prime position for home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs. One win or 49er loss and the road to Indy runs through Lambeau Field.

The battle for spots two and three in the NFC are fairly simple. If San Francisco wins out, they’ll be the number two seed. If not, New Orleans could slip into the number two seed.

Then, of course we have the NFC East mess. If Dallas wins one of its final two games, they win the East. However, if Dallas loses out and Philadelphia wins its remaining two games, they will be the NFC East champions.

Yes, the same Philadelphia Eagles that were 4-8 at one point after getting thoroughly thrashed by the Seattle Seahawks.

AFC

#1 – New England Patriots (AFC East champion, bye)

#2 – Baltimore Ravens (AFC North champion, bye)

#3 – Houston Texans (AFC South champion)

#4 – Denver Broncos (AFC West champion)

#5  – Pittsburgh Steelers (Wild Card)

#6 – NY Jets (Wild Card)

NFC

#1 – Green Bay Packers (NFC North champion, bye)

#2 – San Francisco 49ers (NFC West champion, bye)

#3 – New Orleans Saints (NFC South champion)

#4 – Dallas Cowboys (NFC East champion)

#5 – Atlanta Falcons (Wild Card)

#6 – Detroit Lions (Wild Card)

PROPOSED, FICTIONAL TV SCHEDULE

SATURDAY, JANUARY 7 @ 4:30PM – #6 Detroit at #3 New Orleans (NBC)*

SATURDAY, JANUARY 7 @ 8:00PM – #5 Pittsburgh at #4 Denver (NBC)

SUNDAY, JANUARY 8 @ 1:00PM – #6 NY Jets at #3 Houston (CBS)

SUNDAY, JANUARY 8 @ 4:30PM – #5 Atlanta at #4 Dallas (FOX)

*Also known as the “Brad Nessler or Tom Hammond Game.”