The San Francisco 49ers are back for Week 13, as they travel to face the 2-9 Chicago Bears in a matchup with huge draft implications. The 49ers are 1-10 on the season, and sit a game up on the Bears and Jacksonville Jaguars for the top pick. They have lost ten straight, but are showing some signs of life here and there. The Bears on the other hand lost Jay Cutler for the season, Alshon Jeffery to suspension, ILB Danny Trevathan to injury, and ILB Jerrell Freeman to suspension. Things are not going well in the Windy City.
The 49ers currently hold the No. 2 pick in the 2017 NFL Draft order, and this matchup could shake that up. The 49ers are game and a half back of the 0-12 Cleveland Browns, who are on bye this week. The Jaguars are tied with the Bears and face the Denver Broncos. If the 49ers win on Sunday, we could have a three-way tie at 2-10. The New York Jets are 3-8, and host the Indianapolis Colts on Monday Night football.
Our friends at Football Outsiders are back once again with their weekly look at playoff and draft odds. They provide percentages for several different potential outcomes on both sides of the league. They look at the chance to get into the playoffs, as well as potential results throughout the playoffs. On the other side of the ledger, they provide odds for the top pick in the draft, as well as a top three pick. Here is our look at the odds last week.
FO has changed from looking at odds for a top three pick to looking at odds for a top five pick. Everybody has five games left, so there is still technically a chance for some serious shuffling at the top. However, we have a pretty good idea where things will stand. The Browns, 49ers, Bears, and Jaguars are very likely to end up with a pick in the top five. The Jets (3-8) sit a game back of Chicago and Jacksonville, but have a winnable game against Indianapolis this week. The Bengals (3-7-1) sit a half game back of the Jets, and with injuries to A.J. Green and Gio Bernard, they could certainly slip into the mix. The Rams and Panthers are both 4-7, a game back of the Jets.
Here is where the top five odds stand.
1. Cleveland Browns: 85.7%, 100.0%
2. San Francisco 49ers: 11.9%, 97.5%
3. Chicago Bears: 1.4%, 83.0%
4. Jacksonville Jaguars: 0.8%, 75.8%
5. New York Jets: 0.1%, 68.4%
Here’s what the 49ers remaining schedule looks like starting this week against the Bears. The remaining sub-.500 teams are the Bears, Jets, and Rams. The 49ers have lost ten straight, but their next two games are winnable. They could easily find ways to blow both games, but as a pick ‘em against the Bears, and potentially favored against the Jets, two straight wins is not out of the question.
@ Bears (2-9)
vs. Jets (3-8)
@ Falcons (7-4)
@ Rams (4-7)
vs. Seahawks (7-3-1)