NFL Week 8 Betting Observations: Forget Super Bowl, will the 49ers win the NFC West?

In just two weeks, the San Francisco 49ers have gone from Super Bowl favorites to second place in their own division.

With Sunday’s loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, the Niners are losers of three straight and go into their Week 9 bye half a game behind the Seattle Seahawks in the NFC West.

More concerning for Niners bettors than the team’s current standing, though, is the direction things seem to be trending. Against Cincinnati, the offense was held to just 17 points for a third straight game, and Brock Purdy continued to turn the ball over in a way he didn’t during an incredible stretch of games to begin his career.

Purdy committed three turnovers, including his fourth and fifth interceptions of the season — all five in the last three games — and the Niners lost by their largest deficit in games started by Purdy.

If one loss to the Cleveland Browns with a backup quarterback was a fluke, and a second to the Minnesota Vikings without their best offensive weapon was a reason to look closer, a third loss should finally be a reason for concern. The Bengals are good, but something is off with the 49ers, and if they don’t get to the bottom of what’s ailing them, they’ll be playing for a Wild Card spot.

After opening the season with -165 odds at BetMGM to win the West and improving those to -800 last week, they’re back down to -300 favorites with the sixth-toughest remaining schedule in the NFL. Now might be a good time to throw some money on the Seahawks (+250).