The long slog through the NFL regular season is coming to an end. I suppose the past six weeks have not really been a slot for us given how well the San Francisco 49ers have been playing. Most of us probably wouldn’t mind the season extending a little bit longer to keep up this hot streak. That being said, five months of regular season and preseason football can be tiring for even the best of us.
The 49ers wrap up the season on the road in Week 17, traveling to face the Los Angeles Rams. The 49ers are coming off a huge 44-33 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars. That marked their fourth straight win with Jimmy Garoppolo as starting quarterback, and improved them to 5-10 on the season.
San Francisco enter this weekend as a favorite for only the second time this season. They opened as a 6.5-point underdog to the Rams last Sunday. However, following the line opening, Sean McVay decided to sit Jared Goff, Todd Gurley, Aaron Donald, John Sullivan, and Andrew Whitworth as the team looks to get ready for their wild card round playoff game next week. The 49ers are now a 3.5-point favorite, according to Odds Shark.
Although it has been a tough year for the 49ers, their 5-10 record looks a lot better when factoring in the spread. The 49ers are 8-7 on the season against the spread, and 5-2 ATS on the road. Meanwhile, the 11-4 Rams are 9-6 ATS and 4-3 ATS at home.
I am most definitely using the 49ers one last time in my Week 17 SuperContest picks. I get the 49ers at a field goal. While I would prefer the earlier 2.5 point spread, I’ll take a field goal over 3.5 points any day. I would love to see a blowout win to send the 49ers into the offseason, but I could see this being closer than expected, even with Sean Mannion and company helming the Rams this week.
This marks the final week of the 2017 Westgate SuperContest. SB Nation's partners over at Odds Shark sponsored my entry again, and it was an ugly slog for the second straight season. The contest requires selecting 5 games each week and picking them against the spread. I had some high points here and there, but it was mostly mediocrity. I went 2-3 in five of the first six weeks, and a couple 1-4 weeks the rest of the way kept me from ever being overly competitive. I did go 4-1 last week, but it was too little too late. There is a running leaderboard here, but you can check how I’m doing against my Odds Shark teammates here. You can follow my standings under the name "Fooch.”
Here are my Week 17 SuperContest picks:
Browns (+11) over STEELERS
GIANTS (+3) over Washington
Bears (-11.5) over VIKINGS
Chiefs (-3.5) over BRONCOS
49ers (-3) over RAMS
Here are all my picks for Week 17. I finished last week 10-6. That brings my season total to to 109-124-8.
RAVENS vs. Bengals (+9.5):
LIONS vs. Packers (+6.5):
DOLPHINS vs. Bills (-2.5):
FALCONS vs. Panthers (+3.5):
BUCCANEERS vs. Saints (-7):
TITANS vs. Jaguars (+3):
PATRIOTS vs. Jets (+15.5):
COLTS vs. Texans (+3.5):
STEELERS vs. Browns (+11): Browns
GIANTS vs. Washington (-3): Giants
VIKINGS vs. Bears (-11.5): Bears
EAGLES vs. Cowboys (+3):
CHARGERS vs. Raiders (-7.5):
SEAHAWKS vs. Cardinals (-9.5):
BRONCOS vs. Chiefs (-3.5): Chiefs
RAMS vs. 49ers (-3): 49ers