The good news about ugly wins is that they count just the same in the standings.

There is no column for style points in the NFL, which is fortunate, because the San Francisco 49ers wouldn’t have earned any in their Monday night victory over the Carolina Panthers.

But with the 20-9 win, the Niners are sitting at 8-4. In a muddled NFC, they likely need just two more victories to punch a ticket to the postseason. That’s the math.

But here is the bad news about ugly wins: They force you to stare into the abyss. They make you wonder if this team should even bother chasing those two wins, let alone book travel arrangements for January.

Monday was a survival test, and I suppose the Niners did what they needed to do. It was messy. It was confusing. It was a win.

Here is who kept the ship aflo

See Full Page