A rematch of the 2023 NFC championship game between the Detroit Lions and San Francisco 49ers takes place on Monday Night Football.
The pregame narrative: The Lions are rolling into the late stages of the season, and I don’t expect them to slow down against the 49ers. My favourite prop pick for the game is on tight end Sam LaPorta.
Check out my Lions vs. 49ers best bets for MNF on Dec. 30.
Lions vs.49ers best bets
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Best Bet: LaPorta over 3.5 receptions (-121)
LaPorta has seen regression in his second year as a pro, but he’s starting to turn things around.
Over the past three weeks, the tight end has:
- 24 targets
- 16 receptions
- 4+ catches in 3/3 games
With David Montgomery out for the regular season, Detroit has needed to pass the ball more to avoid running Jahmyr Gibbs into the ground.
Jared Goff has thrown the ball 132 times over the last three games.
LaPorta has been one beneficiary of the uptick in passing attempts, and I’m predicting another strong performance.
Key stat: Detroit’s tight end had nine receptions for 97 yards against San Fransisco in last year’s NFC championship.
Quick pick
Lions -3.5 (-112): Detroit is 7-0 against teams currently under .500 with a +167 point differential. It covered this spread in six of those games, winning the other by three points against the Chicago Bears.
The Lions are just too big of a wagon this season that I couldn’t bring myself to even consider siding with the 49ers here.
San Francisco has a single win against the Bears since Week 11. The team is averaging 16.9 points and 24.5 points against over that time.
Detroit is the more talented side and has had just one loss since Week 2. That came against the Buffalo Bills, who are legit Super Bowl contenders.
Picks made at 2:54 p.m. ET 12/28/2024.
Spencer is a true sports junkie. A graduate of the Sports Journalism program at Centennial College, he first joined NorthStar Gaming as an intern in 2023. He is now a contributing writer. He loves finding the edge to bet on in all sports but has a deep passion for the NBA and UFC. Previous stops include Sportsnet.