Expanded playoffs a difficult deal for 49ers

The NFL’s 55th annual Lombardi Trophy hunt will welcome an additional two teams, thus statistically improving the 49ers’ — and all teams’ — postseason chances.

Repeating as the NFC’s No. 1 playoff seed just got more imperative.

With NFL owners on Tuesday approving the 14-team field that is part of the new collective bargaining agreement, one catch is that only one team per conference will draw a bye for the wild-card round.

The 49ers narrowly garnered that top spot last season, by way Dre Greenlaw’s goal-line tackle that preserved their Week 17 win at Seattle. As a result, the 49ers needed to win only two games to win the NFC, and they indeed beat the No. 6-seed Minnesota Vikings and No. 2 Green Bay Packers en route to Super Bowl LIV, where they collapsed in a 31-20 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.