NFC West Betting Odds: It’s San Francisco’s Division
The 49ers Will Look to Duplicate Last Year's 13-Win Season
The NFC West has been a reasonably competitive division over the last few years. However, last year was pretty ugly for the division. The 49ers ran away with the NFC West after earning 13 wins. The second-closest team was the Seahawks, who were 9-8.
The Los Angeles Rams dealt with injuries and only won five games a year after winning the Super Bowl.
Those three teams could still be competitive in 2023.
However, the Arizona Cardinals are not expected to be one of the three teams. They’re already starting a fire sale before the season, sending LB Isaiah Simmons to the Giants for a 7th-round pick.
The NFL division standings could end up just like last season, with the 49ers in first, the Seahawks in second, and the Rams and Cardinals in third and fourth, respectively.
Let’s break it all down below. Here’s a look at the NFC West betting odds for the 2023 season in the NFL.
San Francisco 49ers (-160)
The San Francisco 49ers felt like they were a Brock Purdy non-injury away from earning a Super Bowl appearance last season.
The 49ers went through multiple quarterbacks last year after Trey Lance had an injury early in the 2022 season.
Lance was a top pick by the 49ers a few years ago. He’s only started four games since then and is now the third-string for the 49ers this year.
While reports are out there that the 49ers are shopping Lance, it’s unlikely he’ll be traded before the season begins.
He’ll be behind Brock Purdy and Sam Darnold for that QB1 spot.
Purdy will get the nod as a starter for the 49ers. But reports have stated that he’s looked subpar throughout the preseason. The 49ers won’t be afraid to give the keys to Sam Darnold if needed. After all, Darnold and Lance have much more upside than Purdy. Purdy was drafted as the last overall pick last season. Darnold and Lance were top selections in their respective drafts.
Anyway, San Francisco added Javon Hargrave at defensive tackle. But that was really all that the 49ers did. They already feel like they’ve got a championship contender, with Christian McCaffrey and Deebo Samuel leading the way. The offense has plenty of playmakers, and the defense has always played at a high standard.
The 49ers also have the fifth-best NFL schedule, according to Sharp Football Analytics’ Strength of Schedule model.
Seattle Seahawks (+195)
The Seattle Seahawks have the second-highest probability in the NFC West betting odds.Nobody in the NFL made any NFL predictions that Geno Smith would come back for the Seahawks and perform better than Russell Wilson.
Smith was given a chance over Wilson, who went to Denver in a trade, and Drew Lock. He threw for 4,282 yards and added 30 touchdowns while only throwing 11 interceptions. Smith has over 11,000 career passing yards but hadn’t surpassed more than 2,525 since his rookie season with the Jets until last year.
Seattle made the playoffs last year, thanks to a break after the Lions beat the Packers in the final game of the regular season. But that doesn’t take away the development of the team.
Some players on the Seahawks didn’t know what to expect last year. But those same players understand that the sky is the limit with Geno Smith under center this season.
Seattle added Dre’Mont Jones on the defensive line. They also brought in Julian Love and Jarran Reed on the defense. According to PFF, the Seahawks also brought back Bobby Wagner, who is still one of the best linebackers in the league.
The draft class was also sensational this year. Seattle got Devon Witherspoon with that fifth pick from Denver for Wilson. They also brought in Jaxon Smith-Njigba as a wide receiver and added a couple of high-impact players like Derick Hall and Zach Charbonnet.
Seattle’s going to be dangerous if everyone can stay healthy.
Los Angeles Rams (+1000)
The Rams won a Super Bowl and then fell apart. That’s not the first time a team has fallen flat on their face after a Super Bowl the year before. It also won’t be the last.
The Rams are now at +1000 to win the NFC West this season. Matthew Stafford wouldn’t take a pay cut, but he’ll at least be healthy enough to start opening day for the Rams. Cooper Kupp, who was also banged up last year, should be prepared for Week 1 despite a minor injury in preseason practice.
Stafford led the Rams to the Super Bowl a couple of years ago. But he’s super erratic and inaccurate at times.
His experience is great, but the Rams aren’t built to win now. They didn’t add many new faces but lost many old ones, including Leonard Floyd, Allen Robinson II, Bobby Wagner, Greg Gains, Jalen Ramsey, and many others.
Los Angeles had to sign 26 undrafted free agents because of how poorly their team was structured coming into the season.
Arizona Cardinals
It’s a new era for the Cardinals. The roster no longer has J.J. Watt. He’s retired. Kliff Kingsbury was fired, and GM Steve Keim is on an indefinite leave of absence due to health-related issues.
It also sounds like Kyler Murray won’t be available for Week 1 of the regular season, leaving Colt McCoy as the opening day starter for the Cardinals.
John Gannon took over as head coach. He was the former defensive coordinator for the Eagles. Some were surprised he took this job in the first place. The Cardinals didn’t do much in free agency and will likely rebuild from the ground up with a new head coach at the helm. He’ll have time to fix this, but if the Cardinals don’t show some urgency with bringing in new players, the Cardinals will become the laughingstock of the league quickly.
At this point, it feels like the Cardinals are trying to tank to get Caleb Williams on the roster at quarterback.
The Best Bet
The 49ers are certainly in the best shape heading into this season. The 49ers always put their quarterbacks in a position to succeed. That won’t change with Purdy under center this year. The run game is electric, with Christian McCaffrey leading the way. They’ve also got Deebo Samuel, George Kittle, and Brandon Aiyuk in the offense.
Meanwhile, DeMeco Ryans is no longer the defensive coordinator at San Francisco. He’s with Houston as a head coach. But the defense still has everything in place to be a No. 1 defense again this year. They’ll face some horrible teams in the NFC West and have one of the easiest schedules in the NFL this year.
If you’re looking at the NFC West betting odds, take the 49ers to win the NFC West this season at -160.
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