Few NFL teams have looked as good on both sides of the ball as San Francisco has, winning both its games away from the friendly confines of Levi’s Stadium.
Fresh off victories over Pittsburgh (30-7) and the L.A. Rams (30-23), the 49ers return to Santa Clara for their home opener against the 1-1 New York Giants on Thursday Night Football. Ahead of that Amazon Prime contest, which kicks off at 5:15 p.m. Pacific time, BetCalifornia.com stacked up how teams that have won their first three regular season contests have fared at year’s end by using data from ChampsorChumps.
Unfortunate for state NFL fans, there is no legal California sports betting available to wager on the 49ers hot start.
How NFL Teams Starting 3-0 Finish
National sportsbooks already see the 49ers playoff odds as a near certainty, with San Francisco at -1800 to make the postseason. It’s a prohibitive -475 favorite to win the division.
3-0 Starts Usually Lead to Good Things In NFL
To further the believe of oddsmakers, it would appear 49ers fans should go ahead and plan on making the postseason if they win this weekend based on how recent 3-0 teams have fared.
Of the last 24 NFL teams to begin the season with three straight wins, 20 wound up making the playoffs, meaning a whopping 83.3% of those squads made the postseason. In the last five seasons, 41.7% of 3-0 teams made it to at least the conference championship round, while six of the last 10 Super Bowl teams started 3-0.
The 49ers were one of those teams to make the Super Bowl the last time they started 3-0, doing so in 2019 — when they lost to Kansas City. Whether San Francisco can reach that level remains to be seen, though 49ers fans can rest soundly knowing their team is a formidable favorite Thursday. Oddsmakers from BetMGM Sportsbook — there is no BetMGM California — list San Francisco as a 10-point favorite against New York with a -550 moneyline.
