49ers Buying Window to Win NFC West Cracked Back Open

Let’s pour one out for the Los Angeles Rams who no longer have odds to win the NFC West on the board at PointsBet Sportsbook. What a horrendous season the defending champs have endured! It’s one that will go down in the history books as one of the worst defenses of a title ever put forth in the NFL. While the Arizona Cardinals are still on the board, the team has no realistic shot of dramatically turning it around over the final five weeks. The NFC West is still a two-horse race between the San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks with the former making it even more interesting than it already was with Jimmy Garoppolo now down for at least the regular season. Let’s take a deep dive into the division’s current futures odds and see if anything should be added to the portfolio heading into Week 14.

Bet NFC West Title Odds at PointsBet Sportsbook

San Francisco 49ers -427

Last I reported on the 49ers, I stated that the window of opportunity had been slammed shut to get a piece of Kyle Shanahan’s squad ultimately taking home division bragging rights. But now that Jimmy G is expected to miss the next seven weeks at minimum, a buying opportunity has once again been made available. That is if you feel the need to throw $427 of your hard earned shekels into the pot in hopes of bringing back a Benjamin. I myself am not a fan, but it’s hard to ignore the team’s 81 percent implied probability to bring the title back home to Silicon Valley for the first time since 2019.

Let’s not forget about the amount of talent stockpiled on this roster. Deebo Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk, and George Kittle are still there to catch passes from rookie QB Brock Purdy. There’s also a guy names Christian McCaffrey toting the rock out of the backfield. And then there’s the defense spearheaded by Nick Bosa that ranks out No. 1 in just about every pertinent stat category across the board. Does this team really need a premiere quarterback to lead it to the Promised Land? I think not! That’s highly evidenced with its odds to win Super Bowl LVII (+1100) and NFC (+475) not taking that much of a hit after it was announced Garoppolo was done for at least the regular season.

San Francisco gets the benefit of playing three of its final five games in the comforts of Levi’s Stadium with the two road games going down in Seattle and Las Vegas. Next week’s battle in front of the 12^th Man will be for all the Tostitos with it already having one in the bag against the Seahawks. I’ve been invested on the Niners winning this division from the season’s outset at a nice plus-money return. I’ve also got an over 10-wins ticket in hand. I’m still very much so bullish on this team winning the division but not nearly as sold on them winning it all anymore; unfortunately. If it’s Purdy ultimately taking snaps in the second season, every one of its opponents will hold the advantage under center and that simply can’t be ignored. If still a believer, by all means take shots on the 49ers winning the NFC and LVII with the rate of return almost identical to the buy-ins I suggested hitting a few weeks back.

Seattle Seahawks +325

The Seahawks bounced back from that tough to stomach overtime loss to the Raiders by going into Tinseltown and handing the defending Super Bowl champion Rams a 27-23 defeat. But the triumph came with a cost after stud RB Kenneth Walker III was bounced from the game early with an ankle injury. What is it with Seattle running backs always managing to hurt themselves?! The ankle injury isn’t believed to be season ending but the rookie is likely to miss a game or two. The injury couldn’t have come at a worse time with the Seahawks in the thick of both the NFC West title and playoff races.

It gets the benefit of playing four of its five remaining games in the comforts of Lumen Field, but each and every one of them can be lost against the Panthers, 49ers, Jets, and Rams. And then there’s that unfortunate Week 16 trek to Kansas City to run with the Chiefs. Geno Smith and co. has already raced past their 5.5-game season wins total to cost me money, and it’s possible they cost me again by failing to surpass their adjusted 9.5-game total as well. Injuries paired with the schizophrenic play of the defense have me nervous right now. I’ll feel much better if a win is logged this Sunday against the Panthers, so recommend taking a hold pattern right now with little to no value being offered up.

Arizona Cardinals +50000

The only reason this team still has odds on the board is because they haven’t been mathematically eliminated. But with games remaining against New England, @Denver, Tampa Bay, @Atlanta, and @San Francisco, it’s all but a done deal. Zona must win all five of those games to have a shot and hand me a sick loss on the under 8.5 wins ticket bought at the outset of the season. Should that occur, I’d tip my hat in Kliff Kingsbury’s direction.