Updated projections have 49ers with worst chance to win NFC West
The 49ers got back into the win column in Week 2 with an emphatic thumping of the New York Jets. Despite a 31-13 victory, a slew of injuries for San Francisco while the rest of the NFC West remained undefeated and looked very good in the process have pushed the 49ers to the bottom of 538’s divisional projections.
The 49ers are projected to finish 9-7, behind the 9-7 Cardinals, 10-6 Rams and 11-5 Seahawks. There may not be a better indication for how dominant the NFC West is on track to be this season.
Another remarkable stat from the projections is that all four teams, including San Francisco, have a greater than 50 percent chance of making the postseason.
In 538's Elo, every NFC West team has a greater than 50% chance of winning the playoffs and is expected to win at least 9 games pic.twitter.com/HUMgTqLS6p
— Computer Cowboy (@benbbaldwin) September 21, 2020
Forget for a moment that the reigning NFC West champs are projected to finish in the division’s basement. It says a lot about how good the 49ers are that they can suffer the rash of injuries they were hit with Sunday and still have better than a 50 percent chance to make the playoffs.
This is just a set of simulations, but it tracks with where San Francisco is headed. They have enough talent to finish above .500 if their injury issues don’t get worse. On the other hand, they only need a couple players to step up while featured in bigger roles and they can continue keeping pace in a very tough NFC West.
