SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- The San Francisco 49ers (9-4) would have preferred not to take a week off during a three-game winning streak. But last week's bye was an exception to the idea that downtime can be harmful to a team that is rolling.

A Week 14 bye is the latest a team can have in NFL scheduling terms, and the Niners hadn't enjoyed any sort of notable downtime since a couple of days they got following a Week 5 win against the Los Angeles Rams . But while players were away, San Francisco gained ground -- jumping from the No. 7 seed to No. 6 -- in an increasingly tight and up-for-grabs NFC playoff picture .

When the 49ers returned for work Monday, coach Kyle Shanahan told them, "It's the first day of school again," a message intended to drive home the point that if they can lock i

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