By Morris Phillips

If the goal is to play meaningful games in November and December, then the 49ers have arrived.

But now that there here, what will they do with the opportunity?

For the first time in 2014, the 49ers came up with a game-winning touchdown drive in the fourth quarter to get past the stubborn Redskins at Levi’s Stadium on Sunday.  But in winning their third in a row, the 49ers again let their outclassed opponent hang around and have a chance to steal one late.

“Our guys did what they needed to do when they needed to do it,” Coach Jim Harbaugh said.  “Good teams win those kind of games.  Proud of our guys.  By any means necessary.”

Prior to driving 75 yards in eight plays to take the lead on Carlos Hyde’s four-yard touchdown run with 4:43 remaining, the 49ers were simply driving their fans and themselves crazy.  The first five San Francisco drives of the second half produced three punts, an interception and a rare Frank Gore fumble.  Two of those five drives were three-and-out, and Gore fumbled on the initial play of that possession.  For those watching the game on television, the sobering stat was relayed across the bottom of the screen: the 49ers were the NFL’s lowest scoring team in the fourth quarter this season.

But thanks to their rare streak of proficiency down the stretch, the 49ers pulled it out and now must get ready for the Seahawks with both teams on the outside looking in at the NFC playoff stack with five games remaining.  The first meeting in the NFL’s rivalry of the moment comes in just four days at Santa Clara with a return meeting December 14^th in Seattle.

Both teams are 7-4 and looking up at the 9-2 Cardinals in the NFC West.  With two of each team’s remaining five games against each other, it becomes less and less likely that all three division teams can qualify for the playoffs.  Most likely, that means that either the Super Bowl champs or the 49ers—with three consecutive NFC Championship appearances under their belt—will miss the playoffs.

So it’s crunch time, and Harbaugh said as much after the game Sunday.

“We’re going to be back tonight,” Harbaugh said when asked how soon his coaching staff would begin preparations for Seattle.  “Coaches will be back tonight.  We’re going strong.”

Of the things the coaching staff will address are the dual issues of running the football, and stopping the run, as both were issues against the Redskins.  Alfred Morris, a top flight NFL back not unlike the Seahawks’ Marshawn Lynch, gashed the 49ers for 125 yards on just 21 carries on Sunday.  What the coaches may find disappointing is Morris did his damage as Redskins’ quarterback Robert Griffin continued to underperform, as he was sacked five times and threw for just 106 yards on Sunday.  With Griffin struggling, the 49ers should have been able to be more resourceful in attempting to stop Morris.  But it didn’t come to pass as the 49ers’ youthful inside linebackers, Chris Borland and Michael Wilhoite, took a step back.

“It came down to the inside backers and making them over or under commit just to open up a gap,” Morris explained.  “They changed it up after halftime by bringing the extra safety down in the box.  It presented a new problem but it didn’t stop our run game.”

Offensively, Sunday was another example of how Gore has lost a step, and rookie Carlos Hyde hasn’t gained the consistency he’ll need to become a quality back at the NFL level.  The pair combined for 20 carries, but only 52 yards gained, putting additional pressure on Colin Kaepernick.  The third-year starter had a decent day with 20 of 29 passing for 256 yards, but not enough the yardage and production involved the end zone.  In fact, Kaepernick looked visibly frustrated as the 49ers weren’t able to find the end zone after their initial possession of the day until the game-winner late in the fourth quarter.

Predictably, the Seahawks will employ a game plan that will look to frustrate Kaepernick.  His chemistry with Anquan Boldin will be hard for any opponent to shake, but the quarterback struggled to get the ball to Vernon Davis and Michael Crabtree, who combined for 8 catches and 79 yards on Sunday.  Without the dynamic presence of outside threats, the Seahawks could find disrupting Kaepernick that much easier.

The 49ers and Seahawks meet at 5:30pm on Thanksgiving night.  The Seahawks had little trouble with first-place Arizona on Sunday, winning 19-3 as Russell Wilson threw for 211 yards and ran for 73 more.