Bills vs. 49ers: Monday Night Football Preview and Predictions
By Darragh Holland
Monday, Dec. 7 at 8:15 PM ET
ESPN
SPREAD: Bills, -3.5
The San Francisco 49ers host the Buffalo Bills on this week's Monday Night Football in a game that will have a big impact on the playoff seeding. We are now into December and the real action begins.
The 49ers are becoming the forgotten team in the NFC West as the LA Rams, Seattle Seahawks, and the Arizona Cardinals have been battling it out for the right to the division title and a Wildcard spot.
A disastrous run of injuries have really hampered San Francisco this season, but after a massive divisional win against the Rams in Week 12 and upcoming games against Washington and the Dallas Cowboys, this is their chance to bring their season alive.
A win here will bring the 49ers right into the mix in their division and leave the NFC West as the most competitive division in the NFL.
The Bills on the other hand have had a solid season and are just a few wins away to a first division title since 1995, also the last time they won a playoff game.
But with the Dolphins breathing down their neck and the Steelers coming up in week 14, they still have a lot to do.
While they have managed to get eight wins this season, it has been more of a case of grinding them out rather than being spectacular, so there are still a lot of questions to be answered.
Due to new COVID restrictions in Santa Clara County, the 49ers’ home games in week 13 and 14 (against the Washington Football Team) have been moved to Arizona.
Buffalo Bills
The Bills have shown themselves to be a tough, hard-nosed football team, but still struggle to have any standout qualities. They rank around the middle in a lot of categories but seem to manage to get the job done one way or another as they sit at the top of their division with an 8-3 record.
Sean McDermott has done a great job since taking over in 2017. He has reached the playoffs twice (Both Wildcard spots and no playoff wins in either season), which shows great consistency week to week.
Now is the time for the Buffalo Bills to push on with a division title and a playoff run.
Bills Offense
Josh Allen has 6 rushing touchdowns on the year. (James P. McCoy/Buffalo News)
While Josh Allen has shown that he can move about in the pocket and take off for yards when he needs to, it’s their passing game that has got the job done for them this season.
They rank 10th in total passing yards and only 23rd in total rushing yards.
The Bills have been putting up good numbers in most games. If they continue to do well, the 49ers defense will need to find a way to slow them down, otherwise the 49ers offense may not keep up with Allen and company.
Bills Defense
While a lot of defenses aren't performing to the same level as last year due to no preseason, the Bills defense has to be one of the biggest letdowns.
Ranking 18th in passing yards and 25th in rushing yards indicates this defense is struggling in a number of ways.
With Kyle Shanahan capable of mixing up a variety of run packages, this is surely an area the 49ers are going to exploit.
San Francisco 49ers
The 49ers season is a real story of what if. From early on they have been hit with a lot of injuries to key players and that hasn’t been helped by being in the most competitive division in the NFL and having a tough schedule.
A quick look and you will see that other than a poor defeat to the Philadelphia Eagles, all the other defeats for the 49ers this season have come against teams with winning records, such as the Arizona Cardinals, Seattle Seahawks, Green Bay Packers, New Orleans Saints, and Miami Dolphins.
This has left them in a really tough position, but they have hung in most games well and will now fancy a late push for the postseason.
49ers Offense
Deebo Samuel had 133 yards in his return. (Alex Gallardo/AP)
The 49ers rank 13th in total passing yards and 17th in total rushing yards, which is actually not too bad considering their starting QB has been battling with injuries most of the season and may not return.
With just 14 passing TDs (27th in the league) and 12 Interceptions (28th in the league), then this offense is going to rely heavily on Nick Mullen improving and taking care of the football.
As with any young QB, the running game becomes vitally important.
While the running game hasn’t been great either, there were signs last week against the Rams that it is improving.
49ers Defense
The defense has been the strength of this team the past two seasons, and San Francisco will be relying heavily on it down the stretch.
Despite the season-long injuries to Nick Bosa and Soloman Thomas so early in the season (Week 2), the San Francisco 49ers have managed to rank 5th in passing yards and 11th in rushing yards against.
With Richard Sherman also just returning last week, this is actually pretty impressive and shows why Defensive Coordinator Robert Saleh is linked to so many Head Coaching jobs.
As the saying goes, “Defense Wins Championships.” Expect to see this unit improve.
The Prediction
Personally, I would bet against the spread in this game. While the Bills are the team leading their division, I really fancy the 49ers in this one.
Their defense can cause a lot of problems for Josh Allen and the Bills offense, so don’t be surprised to see the 49ers run game chew up a lot of clock.
Even with losing their starting Quarterback (Jimmy Garoppolo) through injury and having to allow Nick Mullens some growing pains, the 49ers passing offense is still only 112 yards less than Josh Allen and the Bills.
Possibly indicating that they are not as bad as their record shows, as well as people coming back healthy and Nick Mullens settling into things more, there is plenty to be positive about in the Bay Area.
The 49ers win by 3-7 points in a victory that turns both the NFC West and the AFC East upside down, meaning both divisions will most likely come down to very exciting Week 17 divisional games.
AJ’S PREDICTION: 49ers 20 - 10
DARRAGH’S PREDICTION: 49ers 31 - 28
Darragh is a sports writer for La Tonique.
