Posted on October 27, 2019, by Travis Pulver
To some, such a question may seem ridiculous. They would say that it is beyond time to believe in the San Francisco 49ers. After they are done staring in disbelief at their perceived absurdity of the question, they’ll blurt out a bunch of stats about the defense—which has been dominant.
But the offense, on the other hand, has just been adequate, and their schedule easy—until Sunday when they faced the up and coming Carolina Panthers.
Carolina was not exactly a contending team, but a team like the 49ers looking to prove themselves against a solid opponent. Since dropping their first two, they’d won the next four with Kyle Allen at quarterback. In four starts, he had thrown nine touchdowns and no interceptions. He was doing enough, not trying to do too much, and he wasn’t losing the game.
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Then Sunday happened.
The 49ers defense was going to be a real test for Carolina’s young quarterback, Kyle Allen. However, if he could pass the test against their dominant defense, then the team may have to keep Cam Newton sidelined. But he didn’t just fail; he failed miserably.
San Francisco’s defense answered the challenge, harassing Allen all day long and making his day miserable. When it was finally done, Allen had gone just 19-37 for 158 yards and three interceptions along with seven sacks.
Jimmy Garoppolo, on the other hand, had a great day completing 18 of 22 attempts for 175 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception. But the star of the day on offense was the run game led by Tevin Coleman. Coleman had 105 of the 232 rushing yards the 49ers had and three of their five touchdowns on the ground.
“He knows how to play in the offense,” coach Kyle Shanahan said of Coleman after the game, via ESPN. “He had some good looks today, and when Tevin has a good look, he usually can get in the end zone.”
San Francisco started fast and never really slowed down on the way to a 51-13 win. But it was against a team on the verge of being considered good– not a contender. So—is it enough for the doubters and naysayers to start believing the 49ers are legitimate contenders themselves?
FanDuel has the odds on who will win the NFC West at:
- San Francisco 49ers -165
- Seattle Seahawks +300
- Los Angeles Rams +350
- Arizona Cardinals +6500
The Cardinals are definitely out of the race (the 49ers will finally see them Thursday night). They beat the Rams, who have not looked great this season, earlier in the year. Seattle is going to be tough in a couple of weeks, but with how both teams have played, it should be a good, competitive game.
They may lose once to the Seahawks this year, but probably not twice. The Rams are not playing well enough this year to compete with the 49ers and Seahawks. So, as far as the division goes, they will more than likely win it this year.
But they would have been a better bet a few weeks ago before they became the favorite to win the division. So—what about the Super Bowl?
Their current odds at FanDuel are +900, third-best in the league behind the Patriots (+250) and the Saints (+500). However, as good as their defense has looked, it is not hard to imagine them making it to the NFC Conference Championship game against the Saints.
Can they beat them? Eh—it’s possible, but it remains to be seen if the 49ers are going to have enough offense to beat another quality team. But if the Saints were able to shut down the run game (they are averaging 90.6 yards/game allowed on the ground), could Jimmy Garoppolo come to the rescue with the passing game?
Right now—the answer to that would have to be no. So, does that mean you should pass on the 49ers to win it all? Not necessarily, because at +900 odds, you don’t have to bet the house to win a nice payout.
However, the last nine times more than one team started the season 7-0, one of those teams went on to win it all eight times. But the other 7-0 team is the Patriots, so that may not be saying much.