Seattle or San Francisco? This isn’t a tech job search, but it is NFL divisional betting. It will come down to another two-way fight to the finish to determine supremacy in the NFC West, a division that features three of the top-10 running attacks in the league. The San Francisco 49ers edged out the Seattle Seahawks in the last week of the regular season to win the 2019 NFC West division title. This season, the Niners are the favorite at 5/7 odds to win the NFC West in 2020 and repeat as division champs.
The NFC West will be a fun division to keep an eye on once again. Any time the division comes down to a Week 17 battle, then you know you’re playing in a hotly contested and fierce division.
The Niners want to build upon last season’s 13-3 record. In 2019, they went from worst to first and advanced to Super Bowl 54. But if the Niners want to win their sixth NFL championship, then they’ll have to compete with the stingy Seattle Seahawks.
2020 NFC WEST ODDS
San Francisco 49ers 5/7
Seattle Seahawks 7/2
Los Angeles Rams 6/1
Arizona Cardinals 6/1
According to the Westgate SuperBook in Las Vegas, the San Francisco 49ers are 8/1 odds to win the 2020 SuperBowl. The Niners are the third-highest team on the board behind the co-favorites, the Kansas City Chiefs and the Baltimore Ravens, at 5/1 odds.
The Westgate lists the Seattle Seahawks at 20/1 odds to win the Super Bowl, followed by the Arizona Cardinals at 40/1 odds and the LA Rams at 60/1 odds.
Niners Again, Stubborn Seattle
While the NFL has evolved into a pass-happy league, the NFC West still kicks it old-school with an emphasis on running the ball. Three teams from the NFC West were ranked in the top 10 in rushing.
The Baltimore Ravens got all the attention as the top running team in the NFL last season thanks to the unstoppable Lamar Jackson. The San Francisco 49ers were no slouches on the ground with the second-best rushing attack in the NFL.
The Niners averaged 144.1 yards per game on the ground using Kyle Shanahan’s zone run. They averaged 4.6 yards per rush and tallied 23 touchdowns for a team that didn’t have a primary back. Three different RBs recorded at least 123 attempts last season. The Niners’ three-headed rushing attack includes Raheem Mostert (772 yards, 8 TDs), Matt Breida (623 yards), and Tevin Coleman (544 yards, 6 TDs).
Seattle had the fourth-best running game in the NFL last season averaging 137.5 yards per game. They found themselves shorthanded at RB toward the end of the season. The team cajoled Marshawn Lynch to come back out of retirement and rejoin his old squad. The frenzied Seahawks faithful, aka the “12th Man,” went berserk when Beastmode returned to CenturyLink Field.
In case you were wondering, Lynch has been enjoying the retired life once again. Lynch received accolades for his recurring acting role on HBO’s “Westworld” this past season.
Long Shots: Rams and Cards
No one expected the LA Rams would fall from grace so quickly after a Super Bowl berth the year before. Will 2020 be their bounce-back year? Or will the Rams continue their downward trend? If offensive wunderkind Sean McVay has anything to say about it, the Rams will be the ones fighting the Niners for the NFC crown.
Every season, there’s at least one team in the playoffs that missed the postseason in the previous year. The Rams hope they can be one of those teams in 2020. The Rams will be flying under the radar this season, which makes them a worthy long-shot option. They went 9-7 in 2019 and missed out on the NFC wild card.
Keep an eye on the upstart Arizona Cardinals. They might not have a legit shot, especially at 6/1 odds, but at least they’re fun to watch under young head coach, Kliff Kingsbury. The Cards added one of the top wideouts in the NFL to match up with their up-and-coming quarterback, Kyler Murray.
We’re still scratching our heads over that offseason heist in which the Cards acquired future Hall of Fame WR DeAndre Hopkins in exchange for running back David Johnson. Murray now has the opportunity to throw to two of the best WRs in the modern era with Hopkins and Larry Fitzgerald.
The Cardinals have better super Bowl Odds (at 40/1 vs 60/1) than the Rams, but they’re both listed at 6/1 odds to win the NFC West.
