UNITED STATES—It’s been far from the dream start to the season for xxx and co but there is still plenty of games left to play and that means anything could still happen.
Here we look to answers the question ‘will the 49ers make the playoffs?’. If you want to know the chances of the San Francisco 49ers and all the other teams in the NFL to make the playoffs, check out the live odds on the TwinSpires Edge page: edge.twinspires.com/nfl/odds/
How’s it going so far?
The 49ers have gotten themselves off to somewhat of a rocky start to say the least. They came into week nine with an overall record of 3-5 and faced the Arizona Cardinals in a game that could have been the catalyst for them to kick on from those inconsistent beginnings. Everything shaped up for the 49ers with Kyler Murray and DeAndre Hopkins both missing from the Cardinals team.
It did not work out like that. The Cardinals blitzed them in the first quarter 14-0 and the 49ers never really recovered going on to lose 31-17 to see their opponents pull further ahead in their division courtesy of an 8-1 record; along with the LA Rams (7-2), they’re storming the NFC West.
When you look to the players on the field, you can understand the peaking and troughing of their performance. They’ve had mediocre quarterback play from both Jimmy Garoppolo and Trey Lance so far; you see each player having a few great plays but with neither doing anything exceptionally well. Their run game, however, despite all of the injuries, has been terrific behind Elijah Mitchell. Deebo Samuel has also stepped up his game to be one of the top wideouts in the league; he is second in the NFL in receiving yards.
Defensively, they are rather ‘meh’ as well. Fred Warner and Nick Bosa are two of the best defensive players in the game today but their secondary as a whole is just not very good; it’s that simple. They need a little more firepower there to really put them back into contention. Until then, they are at most a fringe playoff team.
What is next?
Even before their defeat against the Cardinals all the calculations were stacked against a 49ers playoff push. At the very least it was looking like a long shot. You now have to factor in that Cardinals blow. Not only has a weakened Arizona side been too good for them but the also face the Rams next week; as touched on, that’s the second best side in the division as we stand today. They could beat the Rams but it would take a dramatic turnaround in the levels they’ve shown so far.
If, however, they can find a result – or avoid a confidence sapping heavy defeat – then a two game run against the Jacksonville Jaguars and Minnesota Vikings are very winnable; they could be morale boosters and change the outlook.
A tough matchup with Seattle then awaits before another couple of should be wins against the Atlanta Falcons and Houston Texans. That leads them into a triple header with the Rams, the Tennessee Titans and, again, the Texans.
The verdict
If the 49ers split the games we’ve just touched on – which would be a marginal improvement on what they’ve managed to date – they’d find themselves sitting around the 8-9 or 9-8 mark. It would leave their playoff hopes hanging by a wild card shaped thread. Given that one of the wildcard spots is almost definitely going to the Rams or Cardinals it means the 49ers will need to surpass someone like the Vikings or the New Orleans Saints; neither are mugs. Based on the displays they’ve served up to date, the betting odds are not looking to bright for the 49ers. You can never say never though
