2005 San Francisco 49ers NFL Handicapping Review

 

By Tom Wilkinson

 

Little was expected of the 2004 San Francisco 49ers and little is what was delivered. Almost from the start head coach Dennis Erickson was on the hot seat and the 2004 season was written off as a rebuilding campaign even before it started. Yet incredibly enough, San Francisco beat the sports betting odds in four of their first six games despite managing just one straight up win.

Still, with just one win, Erickson was catching considerable media heat and the deathwatch was on. At that point anyone doing a fairly thorough sports handicapping job would realize that San Francisco’s morale would not be able to hold. The 49ers ended up dropping their next five games both straight up and against the sports betting odds to stand at 1-10 straight up and 4-7 against the sports betting line.

By this time, with their season ruined and media speculation running rampant in regards to the future not just of Erickson but also of General Manager Terry Donahue many online sports betting blog posts included the boats of those sports betting players who bragged about “making a living” on betting against the 49ers every week. Well, nothing in sports handicapping is that easy because as bad as the 49ers looked to the naked eye, the sports betting odds makers would adjust their lines to attract action for San Francisco, even if they had to jack the lines up to ridiculous heights. To put this another way, San Francisco was about to become a bargain.

The 49ers were made 11-point road dogs at erratic St. Louis and proved their value as a bargain dog by covering the sports betting odds in a 6-16 defeat. Incredibly enough, in their very next game, they were a full 7-point road dog at Arizona, demonstrating how far out of what the sports betting odds had become. Arizona a 7-point favorite? Think about it. The 49ers defeated the Cardinals in overtime 31-28 and now some online sports betting blog posts were touting the 49ers as a “sleeper” team.

San Francisco looked fairly promising to some members of the sports handicapping community as 6-point home dogs to struggling Washington but others decided to jump ship now that the “secret” was coming out. Washington won and covered 26-16 leaving reactive sports betting players a week late and many dollars short. This was the first of three straight losses to the sports betting odds by the 49ers who finished 6-10 vs. the line.