Week 15 is upon us, and the San Francisco 49ers are fighting for their playoff lives.
Thursday Night Football’s divisional clash between the 49ers and Los Angeles Rams could effectively knock last year’s NFC champions out of the playoff picture. San Francisco is two games behind the Seattle Seahawks for the division lead and one game behind the Rams, but it lost to Los Angeles in Week 3, so Los Angeles holds the tiebreaker.
If an extremely injured 49ers team wants to keep its playoff hopes alive, it’ll need a huge performance from Kittle, who missed the teams’ first contest this season. Pro Football Focus’ top-graded tight end has been as elite as ever this year, leading the team with 800 receiving yards on 56 catches and eight touchdowns.
On DraftKings Sportsbook, the 49ers are three-point underdogs, and the point total is set at 48.5. Below, I’ve identified my favorite prop bets centered around Kittle.
Best George Kittle Prop Bets on DraftKings Sportsbook
George Kittle 70+ Receiving Yards (+135)
Even despite an injury-riddled season, Kittle is peaking at the right time, and San Francisco will need him to be great once again tonight. He enjoyed his second 100-yard receiving performance of the season in the 49ers’ blowout win over the Chicago Bears on December 8, hauling in six catches for 151 yards.
Kittle will face an exceptionally favorable matchup tonight in a Rams defense that has struggled in aerial defense this year. Despite being targeted just 259 times, Los Angeles has been torched for 12.2 yards per reception this season, the third-highest rate in the NFL. The Rams have also allowed a league-high 58.7% of catches go for first downs. And, to make matters worse for Los Angeles’ pass defense, its best cornerback, Cobie Durant, has been ruled out for tonight’s game.
Although Kittle ranks only third on the 49ers in terms of overall target share, he leads the team in targets both inside the red zone and the end zone, garnering an impressive 33.3% of targets inside the opponent’s 20-yard line. And with San Francisco’s top receiver, Brandon Aiyuk, and top two running backs all on season-ending injured reserve, quarterback Brock Purdy’s options are fading rapidly, which means he’ll lean heavily on his most reliable target. As always, that’s Kittle.
George Kittle Anytime TD Scorer (+130)
I also like Kittle to get into the end zone against the Rams, which he has done in seven of his 11 games. The Rams have allowed 23 receiving touchdowns this season, tied for the seventh-most in the NFL. Meanwhile, Kittle has been the recipient of nine end zone targets so far this season (0.8 per game), and although he has not found paydirt in either of his last two games, one was a snow game in Buffalo where Purdy attempted just 18 passes.
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All odds provided by DraftKings Sportsbook, lines and odds subject to change.
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