Bookmaker – 49ers Owner Predicts 0-5 Team Will Win Division. The San Francisco 49ers are 0-5 and not getting much respect at the bookmaker but their owner still believes in his team. San Francisco owner Jed York is predicting that his winless team will come back and win the NFC West this season. That is definitely shocking but in the NFC West anything is possible in offshore betting.
The 49ers are given no chance to win the Super Bowl as they are listed at 125-1 at Sbgglobal. Those odds may seem long but York still believes in his team. At 0-5 the 49ers face a daunting task but at least they don’t play in a tough division.
Historical Prediction – If York’s prediction comes true it would completely defy history. No NFL team in history that started 0-5 has even made the playoffs, yet alone won their division. That history goes back to 1990 when the NFL adopted their current playoff format.
Not Impossible – Normally when you talk about a 0-5 team coming back to win their division you don’t even talk about their chances because it is next to impossible. Considering that the 49ers play in the rotten NFC West and that they have an easy remaining schedule, it is at least worth considering York’s prediction.
Remaining Schedule – The 49ers have played just one game in their division and that was at Seattle. They have five more games left against the NFC West so that means two games against Arizona in offshore betting, two against St. Louis and another one against Seattle. The 49ers host Oakland this week and they are favored at the bookmaker. They have winnable games at Carolina, in London vs. Denver, a home game against Tampa Bay and a game at San Diego. Then they have those divisional games that are all winnable.
Reality – Let’s look at the prediction realistically. Every other team in the NFC West has at least two wins and the 49ers have none. One of the teams should at least get to 7-9. The 49ers have to go 7-4 the rest of the way to get to 7-9. Is it possible that San Francisco can come back and win the NFC West? Yes. Is it likely with Alex Smith as their quarterback? No.