The San Francisco 49ers put themselves under more pressure in the race for the NFC's one seed by falling flat on Christmas Day.

San Francisco now must likely win out to finish as the top seed with a first-round bye and homefield advantage throughout the playoffs. They will, however, clinch it if they beat the Washington Commanders on Sunday and the Philadelphia Eagles lose to the Arizona Cardinals.

Still, the 49ers previously had room for error that is now gone because of their Week 16 loss to the Baltimore Ravens, and there are several players who will be under the microscope as they look to at least maintain their position atop the conference going into the regular-season finale by knocking off a Commanders team playing solely for pride.

QB Brock Purdy

While much of the United States won’t get the game on TV, there will be a lot of attention on how Purdy responds to the worst performance of his career.

Purdy must move on rapidly from throwing four picks on the national stage and ensure the offense resumes normal service in an extremely favorable matchup. How he bounces back to the adversity of his Christmas Day nightmare will reveal a lot about who he is as a quarterback and his long-term prospects.

TE George Kittle

Kittle needs nine yards to reach 1,000 for the season and heads into the game on the back of a 126-yard effort against the Ravens.

Last year, Kittle had 120 yards and two touchdowns in a 37-20 win over the Commanders. 

He’s likely to be a focal point of the passing game again and his rapport with Purdy could be key to the 49er offense getting back on track.

DT Sebastian Joseph-Day

The 49ers signed Joseph-Day this week with defensive tackle Arik Armstead still out with knee and foot injuries. 

The former Los Angeles Ram and Charger hasn’t had much time to adapt to the defense but the 49ers are hopeful of getting an instant impact from a highly regarded run defender.

Joseph-Day is having his best year as a pass rusher with three sacks and 11 quarterback hits, but it will be his efforts in slowing down Brian Robinson and the Commanders run game that will be most important as the Niners look to take the game away from Washington early.

S Logan Ryan

With rookie Ji’Ayir Brown out because of a knee sprain, the 49ers are turning to veteran two-time Super Bowl champion at Ryan next to Tashaun Gipson at safety.

Ryan only signed with the Niners on December 6, but San Francisco is betting his experience will allow the secondary to get through a matchup with a talented Commanders receiving corps. It’s a bet they can’t afford to have backfire.

CB Ambry Thomas

Thomas was listed as questionable with hand and knee injuries and, likely to face Terry McLaurin on a regular basis, he’ll need to show more consistency than he did against the Ravens.Thomas enjoyed some standout moments in coverage, he struggled when matched up one on one with Rashod Bateman. 

Extremely impressive since the bye, the Niners need Thomas to display the solidity he has demonstrated for most of the second half of the season to help ensure the Washington passing game does not allow the Commanders to stay in the game.

Brock Purdy has chance to prove he’s learned from biggest Christmas mistake

He knows where he went wrong.