Tag: nfl predictions

ESPN NFL head coach predictions are great news for 49ers

These head coach predictions would very likely mean a Robert Saleh reunion for the 49ers.

The San Francisco 49ers would love to see ESPN’s head coach predictions come true.

It appears that former 49ers defensive coordinator and New York Jets head coach Robert Saleh sits atop their list of preferred replacements for Nick Sorensen. He’s already interviewed for the job and he checks all the boxes the team is looking for in the new head of their defense, on top of his experience with the 49ers as their DC from 2017-2020.

While the 49ers would like to lock down a DC, they’ll have to wait on Saleh who is interviewing for head coaching jobs. A bit of good news on that front for San Francisco comes in via predictions on the six head coaching vacancies from ESPN’s Dan Graziano.

Saleh isn’t one of the people predicted to land a head coaching gig in this cycle. In fact, Graziano only has Saleh listed as a candidate for the Jacksonville Jaguars and Las Vegas Raiders. He does describe Saleh as a “sleeper” for the Jags job.

Via ESPN:

A sleeper here could be Robert Saleh, whose interview with the team will happen Tuesday. Saleh, who was fired as the Jets’ head coach early in the 2024 season, spent three seasons as the Jaguars’ linebackers coach on Gus Bradley’s staff from 2014 to 2016.

It wouldn’t be a surprise if Saleh is passed over in this cycle given some of the high-profile names on the open market and his lack of overall success with the Jets. Saleh was 20-36 while leading the Jets and was fired only five games into this season.

He should get another shot at being a head coach eventually, but the 49ers would love to see him get that chance in a different year so he can run their defense in 2025.

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Prediction and betting odds for 49ers vs. Cardinals in Week 18

Analyzing Sunday’s 49ers vs. Cardinals game with odds and lines, predictions and best bets.

The San Francisco 49ers (6-10) head to State Farm Stadium to take on the Arizona Cardinals (7-9) to close their 2024 NFL season.

The 49ers will look to end the season on an uptick before heading into an offseason with plenty of important decisions to be made. Brock Purdy’s future with the 49ers and whether or not an extension gets ironed out will be one of the primary storylines surrounding San Francisco’s offseason.

Any final evaluations of Purdy won’t happen on Sunday. Purdy is sidelined with a right elbow injury and the 49ers will turn to Joshua Dobbs as its starting quarterback.

In the two team’s first meeting this season, San Francisco built a 23-10 halftime lead before watching Arizona quarterback Kyler Murray rally the Cardinals back in the second half en route to a 24-23 Arizona victory.

As kickoff approaches, here’s a look at the betting odds, including the point spread, money line figures and the over-under point total. Plus, a prediction on how this one plays out.

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49ers vs. Cardinals game odds:

All NFL Odds via BetMGM:

  • Point spread: Arizona -4.5
  • Money line: Arizona -225 / San Francisco +185
  • Over-under: 42.5

49ers vs. Cardinals injury updates:

  • 49ers QB Brock Purdy – OUT (right elbow)
  • 49ers OL Spencer Burford – OUT (calf)
  • 49ers WR Deebo Samuel Sr. – OUT (rib, wrist)
  • 49ers DL Robert Beal Jr. – OUT (ankle)
  • 49ers DB Deommodore Lenoir – OUT (shoulder)
  • 49ers TE George Kittle – Questionable (ankle, hamstring)
  • Cardinals K Matt Prater – OUT (left knee)
  • Cardinals OT Jackson Barton – Questionable (ankle)
  • Cardinals WR Michael Wilson – Questionable (hamstring)
  • Cardinals LB Mack Wilson – Questionable (ankle, quadricep)
  • Cardinals CB Sean Murphy-Bunting – Questionable (toe)

49ers vs. Cardinals prediction, pick

Prediction: Arizona 27, San Francisco 20

Arizona has starting quarterback Kyler Murray as a go, while San Francisco will be without Brock Purdy. That’s enough to lean the Cardinals’ direction in this regular season finale.

Consider both Kyler Murray (+110) and 49ers running back Isaac Guerendo (+150) as anytime touchdown scorers. With several key pass-catchers potentially out of the equation and 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy as well, if San Francisco finds offensive success, there’s a good chance it’s Guerendo finding his way into the end zone.

49ers vs. Cardinals channel, start time, streaming:

The 49ers vs. Cardinals game starts at 1:25 p.m. PT and can be seen on Fox. Play-by-play broadcaster Chris Myers and color analyst Mark Schlereth will call the game from the booth at State Farm Stadium, with Jen Hale reporting from the sidelines.

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Get more betting analysis and predictions at Sportsbook Wire.

Prediction and betting odds for 49ers vs. Bears in Week 14

Analyzing Sunday’s 49ers vs. Bears game with odds and lines, predictions and best bets.

The San Francisco 49ers (5-7) are running out of real estate to make a run at an NFC West title and a return to the playoffs.

The 49ers welcome in the reeling Chicago Bears (4-8) to Levi’s Stadium for a Sunday afternoon date. Led by rookie quarterback and recent No. 1 overall draft pick Caleb Williams, Chicago has lost six straight as it went spiraling out of the playoff picture.

Of those six straight losses, four have been one-score defeats. The Chicago Bears’ embarrassing clock mismanagement to end its Thanksgiving Day loss at Detroit cost head coach Matt Eberflus his job.

As San Francisco looks to snap its own three-game losing streak, here’s a look at the latest odds, including the spread, over-under and a prediction for the game.

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49ers vs. Bears game odds:

All College Football Odds via BetMGM:

  • Point spread: 49ers -3
  • Money line: 49ers -175 / Bears +145
  • Over-under: 43.5

49ers vs. Bears injury updates:

  • San Francisco LB Dre Greenlaw – OUT (Achilles)
  • San Francisco S George Odum – OUT (knee)
  • San Francisco RB Jordan Mason – OUT (ankle)
  • San Francisco LT Trent Williams – OUT (ankle)
  • San Francisco DE Nick Bosa – Doubtful (hip, oblique)
  • San Francisco LG Aaron Banks – Questionable (concussion)
  • Chicago OL Ryan Bates – OUT (concussion)
  • Chicago DB Elijah Hicks – OUT (ankle)
  • Chicago RB Roschon Johnson – OUT (concussion)
  • Chicago WR DJ Moore – Questionable (quad)
  • Chicago RB D’Andre Swift – Questionable (quad)

49ers vs. Bears prediction, pick

Prediction: San Francisco 23, Chicago 17

The 49ers have to get this game if there’s any hope of an NFC West title and a return to the playoffs.

Despite at least one key missing piece on the left side of its offensive line, 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan dials up enough offense with Brock Purdy and Co. at home to pick up win No. 6 on the season and keep San Francisco in the mix.

It’s another one-score loss for the Bears.

49ers vs. Bears channel, start time, streaming:

The 49ers vs. Bears game starts at 1:25 p.m. PT and can be seen on Fox.

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Get more betting analysis and predictions at Sportsbook Wire.

Sydney Warner shares hilarious game prediction for husband, 49ers LB Fred Warner, vs. Bears

Sydney Warner shared her Chicago Bears game prediction for her husband, 49ers linebacker Fred Warner, on their podcast, “Warner House.”

Ahead of the San Francisco 49ers‘ Week 14 date against the Chicago Bears, fans got the latest installment of the “Warner House” featuring San Francisco linebacker Fred Warner and his wife, Sydney.

In addition to a full recap of the 49ers’ snow game at Buffalo, fans were also treated to the Warners’ Christmas plans.

Sydney also shared a hilarious prediction for what to expect from Fred Warner in the 49ers’ Sunday date against the Bears.

“I predict that you are going to have one pick and you’re going to punch the ball out once. And then, you might like tip another pick, but then somebody else will catch it. How does that sound? I didn’t want to get too overzealous,” Sydney Warner said.

The zaniness of Sydney’s prediction earned a belly laugh from Fred.

With San Francisco currently stuck in a three-game losing streak, Fred joked that maybe it was the right time for a crazy prediction.

“Too overzealous? Honey, this is the time to go nuts. What do we have to lose here? So, redo the whole thing. Go crazy,” Fred Warner said.

Sydney Warner couldn’t be talked into more than two picks and a forced fumble, though.

Fred then asked for her total tackles prediction.

“You better get at least seven or you’re in trouble. Seven or you’re in trouble,” Sydney Warner said.

Let’s hope for Fred’s sake that he can deliver a big game against the Bears to stay out of Sydney’s doghouse.

In the meantime, San Francisco fans would happily sign up for any one of those three turnover predictions coming true against Chicago.

Fred Warner currently has a team-leading 88 total tackles, three tackles for loss, two interceptions and one sack on the season. Warner had a 45-yard pick-six in the 49ers’ 30-13 win over the New England Patriots in Week 4.

Kickoff against Chicago is set for 1:25 p.m. PT with the game set to be televised on Fox.

Final score predictions for Patriots vs. Bengals in Week 1

A final prediction for Patriots vs. Bengals in Week 1.

Despite the drama around the wide receiver position, the Cincinnati Bengals appear to be in a good spot when they kick off the regular season against the New England Patriots on Sunday.

It doesn’t take long to see that the Bengals are routinely one of the week’s most-picked teams, boast the best odds and are a favorite in keeper leagues.

But that drama just makes the big headlines, as it should. At least as of this writing, the team and Ja’Marr Chase haven’t agreed on an extension, so while the team still hopes that he’ll suit up, he’s said he would be limited even if he does. Another hamstring injury for Tee Higgins has left him “doubtful” on the final injury report, meaning he won’t play.

Even so, Joe Burrow reigns above all when it comes to projections, given the importance of the position.

Coming off the first normal summer of his pro career, bigger and with zero hint of wrist woes that ended 2023 early, Burrow’s working an evolved offense that will go under center more, can use a versatile Zack Moss-Chase Brown combo in the backfield and big targets like Andrei Iosivas and Mike Gesicki through the air.

Questions remain about the defense, primarily because replacing DJ Reader in the middle of the trenches is a near-impossible task. But the communication woes in the secondary that ruined last season appear to be fixed thanks to the return of Vonn Bell and the successful transition to cornerback for Dax Hill.

Despite all this, a huge chunk of the optimism this week for the Bengals stems from the opposition.

Those Patriots just tailspinned out of the Bill Belichick era with a 4-13 mark last year and first-time head coach Jerod Mayor faces one of the league’s most daunting rebuilding overhauls.

Rookie quarterback Drake Maye is a reason for optimism in Foxboro, but the Patriots will start veteran Jacoby Brissett. While reliable, the 31-year-old journeyman is on his fourth team since 2021 and hasn’t thrown more than 12 scores in a season since 2019 and the cast of weapons around him is very much in its developmental stages.

Which is to say the Bengals couldn’t have asked for a better opponent if they need to miss Higgins for a week or have Chase limited. That’s not to say there isn’t an upset risk, but the chances of the usual Week 1 oddities that happen to teams are lessened dramatically for the Bengals by the fact Burrow had a normal summer.

Prediction: Bengals 27, Patriots 17

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2024 NFL division predictions, Super Bowl predictions

Jess Root’s predictions for how each division will play out in 2024, who makes the playoffs and who wins the Super Bowl.

The NFL season starts tonight with the Kansas City Chiefs hosting the Baltimore Ravens. Then there will be 15 more games in Week 1 to kick off the season.

The Chiefs are two-time defending champions looking to win a third consecutive Super Bowl, becoming the first team to do it.

Will it happen?

It is time for some predictions. Below, I will give my predictions for how the standings will go in each division and then what will happen in the playoffs.

AFC North

  1. Baltimore Ravens
  2. Cincinnati Bengals
  3. Pittsburgh Steelers
  4. Cleveland Browns

AFC South

  1. Houston Texans
  2. Indianapolis Colts
  3. Jacksonville Jaguars
  4. Tennessee Titans

AFC East

  1. Miami Dolphins
  2. Buffalo Bills
  3. New York Jets
  4. New England Patriots

AFC West

  1. Kansas City Chiefs
  2. Los Angeles Chargers
  3. Denver Broncos
  4. Las Vegas Raiders

NFC North

  1. Detroit Lions
  2. Green Bay Packers
  3. Chicago Bears
  4. Minnesota Vikings

NFC South

  1. Atlanta Falcons
  2. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
  3. New Orleans Saints
  4. Carolina Panthers

NFC East

  1. Dallas Cowboys
  2. Philadelphia Eagles
  3. Washington Commanders
  4. New York Giants

NFC West

  1. San Francisco 49ers
  2. Los Angeles Rams
  3. Arizona Cardinals
  4. Seattle Seahawks

AFC playoffs

  1. Dolphins
  2. Chiefs
  3. Texans
  4. Ravens
  5. Bills
  6. Colts
  7. Bengals

Wild Card round:

  • Chiefs over Bengals
  • Colts over Texans
  • Ravens over Bills

Divisional round:

  • Colts over Dolphins
  • Chiefs over Ravens

AFC Championship

  • Chiefs over Colts

NFC playoffs

  1. Lions
  2. 49ers
  3. Cowboys
  4. Falcons
  5. Packers
  6. Rams
  7. Eagles

Wild Card round

  • 49ers over Eagles
  • Rams over Cowboys
  • Packers over Falcons

Divisional round

  • Lions over Rams
  • Packers over 49ers

NFC Championship

  • Lions over Packers

Super Bowl

  • Chiefs over Lions

Get more Cardinals and NFL coverage from Cards Wire’s Jess Root and others by listening to the latest on the Rise Up, See Red podcast. Subscribe on Spotify, YouTube or Apple podcasts.

 

49ers offense falls off in ESPN analyst’s bold prediction

An ESPN prediction has the 49ers offense falling off some. We don’t see it.

The San Francisco 49ers are returning virtually all of their starters on offense in 2024.

That’s a significant deal considering how dominant they were on that side of the ball last season. They ranked No. 1 in points scored, offensive efficiency, and offensive EPA per play according to ESPN.

Their only change to their starting lineup will be at right guard where rookie third-round pick Dominick Puni figures to step in for the rotation of Spencer Burford and Jon Feliciano.

Despite all that, ESPN analytics guru Seth Walder made an offensive dip his bold prediction for the 49ers’ 2024 season. Via ESPN:

The 49ers’ middling offensive line play will catch up to them and they’ll fall out of the top four offenses in the league (in terms of expected points added per play) as a result. The only lineman they can feel great about is left tackle Trent Williams, and even he carries risk, given that he’s 36 years old and currently holding out. Left guard Aaron Banks, center Jake Brendel, right guard Spencer Burford and right tackle Colton McKivitz all showed weakness in either run or pass block win rate last season.

This is becoming a theme in the pre-season analysis of the 49ers. Their offensive line is an easy weak spot on the roster to point to, and Walder did so with his prediction. He doesn’t mention Puni, but a rookie third-round pick wouldn’t like alter the projection much.

Williams did return to the fold and will get three days of practice in before Week 1. He joins Banks on the left side with Brendel at center. Puni will man right guard alongside McKivitz.

There certainly could be a dip in offensive production if the offensive line falters. However, the 49ers have a good track record under head coach Kyle Shanahan of piecing together offense behind a questionable offensive line. That group had some bad moments last season, but it certainly wasn’t terrible. Puni could also provide an upgrade at RG.

With quarterback Brock Purdy getting a full offseason under his belt without requiring rehab for a major elbow injury and the return of all but one starter on offense, we’ll lean toward San Francisco once again generating a top three NFL offense and proving Walder’s prediction wrong.

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ESPN projects 49ers as a lock to return to postseason

A rocky offseason didn’t stop ESPN from making the #49ers a postseason lock.

Despite an offseason full of drama and an injury to a star player, the San Francisco 49ers are still in good shape to make a trip back to the postseason.

Left tackle Trent Williams ended his holdout just a couple of days after wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk ended his hold-in. Aiyuk was back in practice Tuesday, as was running back Christian McCaffrey who returned from a calf injury that cost him the entire preseason.

Things are falling into place for the 49ers just in time for the regular season, and it helped them land as a playoff lock in a projection from ESPN’s Bill Barnwell. He leaned on their offensive efficiency and overwhelming top-end talent as reasons they’d return to the postseason despite a tumultuous offseason coming off a Super Bowl loss:

While the debates about Brock Purdy’s impact on the offense rage on, all we can say for sure is teams haven’t yet found a way to stop the former seventh-round pick consistently. Since Purdy entered the starting lineup in Week 13 of the 2022 season, the 49ers are a league-best 18-5, lead the NFL in expected points added (EPA) per play on offense, and rank third in EPA per play on defense. They’ve been the best team in football over that stretch, even if it hasn’t yet yielded a championship. Barring a rash of injuries to Purdy and his fellow superstars atop the San Francisco roster, this team will be back in the playoffs for another run.

San Francisco is one of eight teams from last year’s playoff field that Barnwell picked to return. They joined the Rams, Packers, Lions and Cowboys from the NFC. In the AFC the Chiefs, Bills and Ravens were all considered locks to return to the postseason.

We’ll learn a lot about the 49ers’ chances early in the year. If they’re going to have any hiccups from their offseason they’ll show in the first few weeks. Under head coach Kyle Shanahan, San Francisco has been consistently very good through November and December which always puts them in a good position to make a postseason push. If they can avoid an early-season collapse, it’s easy to draw a path to a fifth playoff berth in six years for the 49ers.

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Fantasy football and NFL predictions for 2024

The Huddle’s staff predicts various NFL award winners and more.

The NFL and fantasy football seasons are upon us, so it’s time to look into our crystal ball and see what we can forecast. Whether it be NFL MVP, the Super Bowl winner, or fantasy football Rookie of the Year, our team of professional prognosticators make their predictions for the upcoming season.

Let’s see if we can form any kind of consensus among our staff, and even if we cannot, it is always fun to have a snapshot of differing opinions.

2024 fantasy football and NFL staff predictions

More disappointment for 49ers in USA TODAY predictions

Ouch.

A potential Super Bowl hangover isn’t being factored into preseason prognostication about the 49ers. They might just have a roster that’s too good and too experienced to fall victim to it. A prediction from Nate Davis at USA TODAY certainly has San Francisco avoiding a Super Bowl hangover, but their season still ends in disappointment yet again.

Davis has the 49ers finishing with a stellar 13-4 record, along with the No. 1 seed in the NFC.

That in itself would be a rousing success considering the hurdles they’d have to clear as the previous season’s Super Bowl runner up.

Alas, they not only don’t win the title in Davis’s prediction. They don’t even make it back.

Davis has the Packers (the No. 2 seed) representing the NFC against the New York Jets and losing on the NFL’s biggest stage. To get to the Super Bowl the Packers defeat the 49ers at Levi’s Stadium in the NFC championship game.

What a gut punch that would be.

Not only to lose in yet another NFC title game, but to have it come against the Packers – a team the 49ers have defeated in five consecutive playoff matchups – would be particularly brutal. It might also lead to some hard questions about San Francisco’s ceiling now that a team like Green Bay has eclipsed them in an NFC that appears to be catching up to them.

In the big picture another NFC championship trip would be a success for the 49ers organization, but zooming into the last six seasons, it would be hard to deem this version of the 2024 campaign anything less than a failure.

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