The Niners are 4-point favourites on the NFL odds.

NFL Point Spread and Betting Analysis

San Francisco is in the Divisional Round for the season straight year. It upset the Packers 13-10 in Green Bay last January and is looking to reach the NFC title game for the third time in the past four seasons. Dallas is in this round for the first time since 2018 but hasn’t reached the conference championship game since following the 1995 season when the Cowboys won their most recent Super Bowl.

This writer personally believes the winner of this game wins the NFC. The Niners are +149 to do so and the Cowboys +344. While the teams didn’t play during the 2022 regular season, they faced off in Arlington, Texas, in the Wild Card Round last year and the 49ers won 23-17 in an upset largely by rushing for 169 yards and two TDs. The 49ers overcame a terrible interception by Jimmy Garoppolo when they led by 13 in the fourth quarter that gave Dallas life. Dak Prescott passed for a score and rushed for one in the loss.

The road team is 4-1-1 ATS in the past six meetings.

Dallas Cowboys

The Cowboys knocked off Tom Brady (ending his career?) and the Bucs in Tampa on Monday night, 31-14. Dak Prescott played one of the best games of his career in his first playoff victory, completing 22-for-33 for 305 yards and four scores while rushing for a TD. He was miles better than Brady – who had been 7-0 all-time vs. the Cowboys. It was their first playoff road win in 30 years. The team’s most recent road playoff victory was the 1992 NFC Championship Game that started a dynasty. Perhaps the second-biggest story Monday was Dallas kicker Brett Maher almost impossibly missing four straight extra points, becoming the first player in NFL history to miss that many in a game since 1932. Maher finally converted on his fifth attempt in the fourth quarter. Will the team bring in kickers to work out this week? It’s a short week so that might be tough. The Divisional Round has been a bugaboo for the Cowboys as they have lost six straight in this round, the longest of all-time since the creation of the round in 1970. Dallas is 0-3-1 ATS in its past four following a win.

San Francisco 49ers

NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year is a regular-season award and because 49ers seventh-round QB Brock Purdy only played in the final six games and started the last five, he’s not going to win it. However, if the playoffs were included, he’d be the favourite right now as the 2022 NFL Draft’s “Mr. Irrelevant” overcame a slow start in the Wild Card Round vs. Seattle to finish with 332 yards and three TDs through the air along with a rushing score in a 41-23 blowout, the Niners’ 11^th straight win. Purdy became is the first player with multiple pass TDs and a rush TD in his playoff debut since San Francisco’s Colin Kaepernick in the 2012 Divisional Round vs. the Packers. Purdy also was the first rookie QB to win a playoff start since Seattle’s Russell Wilson in the 2012 Wild Card at Washington. Purdy has now thrown for multiple touchdowns in seven straight games overall, tying him with Justin Herbert for the longest streak by a rookie QB since 1950. It helps that Purdy is surrounded by two of the best at their position in running back Christian McCaffrey (119 yards rushing, receiving TD vs. Seattle) and receiver Deebo Samuel (165 yards from scrimmage, TD). The Niners are 12-2 ATS in their past 14 at home.

NFL Prediction: Who Will Win Cowboys vs. 49ers?