Deebo Samuel out, Ken Walker in for TNF

15.12.2022 19:36

Plus, Thursday Night Football bets, Argentina-France World Cup Final breakdown and more.

Good morning! The sports calendar is abuzz as the year comes to a close.

Fantasy football playoffs get underway this evening, bowl season begins this weekend and the World Cup wraps up Sunday with France and Argentina facing off for the title. It’s a lot to take in, but luckily we’ve got you covered with picks, previews and more.

In today’s Winners Club you’ll find:

Niners Carry Six-Game Winning Streak into Seattle

49ers (-3.5) vs. Seahawks

8:15 p.m. ET (Prime Video)

The 49ers snatched the division lead from the Seahawks a few weeks back and ran with it. Seattle has cooled off considerably after its 6–3 start while no team is hotter than San Francisco heading into this matchup at Lumen Field. The last time these teams met was the game Trey Lance went down for the season and Jimmy Garoppolo replaced him in a 27-7 win. Now, Kyle Shanahan is relying on yet another quarterback, rookie Brock Purdy, who just beat Tom Brady in his first career start.

Ken Walker is returning to the lineup for Seattle, which struggled to run the ball last week in his absence. The only issue is he’s up against the league’s best run defense. San Francisco will be without Deebo Samuel (knee, ankle), which puts added pressure on Christian McCaffrey to produce.

Jen Piacenti broke down the matchup, in which the 49ers are road favorites, and made her pick against the spread. She also singled out four prop bets she likes in this game that include players on both teams. And Piacenti also got together with Albert Breer and Michael Fabiano to discuss the most important storylines in this contest as Week 15 gets underway.

Some things you should know:

The 49ers have covered each of their last four games and five out of six on their winning streak.
San Francisco’s win over Seattle earlier this year was its first in the series since 2019.
The Seahawks are 0–4 against the spread over their last four games.
Seattle games hit the over at one of the highest rates in the NFL (8–5). San Francisco games do so less than 50% of the time but six of its last nine games have gone over.
This matchup pits the league’s No. 1 scoring defense against the 30th-ranked unit.

Compete in SI Sportsbook’s Perfect 10 contest by picking 10 games against the spread for a shot at a $10,000 grand prize! Bye weeks are over, so there are 16 games going on around the NFL for Week 15, starting tonight. And remember: this is the first week of the season with games on Saturday. You can find the lines for Thursday Night Football, the trio of games on Saturday and the full Sunday slate here.

Get your NFL Tickets for Week 15 with SI Tickets

Fantasy Football Week 15 Prep: Round 1 Begins

Your team navigated injuries, bye weeks and difficult matchups just to make it to this point. You should be proud, but let’s not make this a one-and-done thing. Go for it all, starting this weekend in Round 1.

Our analysts have loads of recommendations below to help you maximize your roster throughout the postseason. And at si.com/fantasy, you can find and compare players with the player rankings and projection tabs and be sure to use the player props and DFS lineup generator tools.

Easiest Playoff Schedules

QB | RB | WR | TE

Toughest Playoff Schedules

QB | RB | WR | TE

Start 'Em, Sit 'Em

Quarterbacks: Mike White can be trusted this week against the Lions.
Running backs: Stay away from D’Andre Swift in a difficult matchup with the Jets.
Wide receivers: Michael Pittman Jr. can get the best of Minnesota’s secondary.
Tight ends: Don’t rely on Cole Kmet vs. Philadelphia with your season on the line.
Kickers and defenses: A game against the Texans should be fruitful for the Chiefs.

Positional Rankings

Quarterbacks: Aaron Rodgers ranks just outside QB1 range versus the Rams.
Running back: Both Cowboys backs are great options against Jacksonville.
Wide Receivers: There are two top-12 receivers in the Lions-Jets game.
Tight ends: Evan Engram is a low-end TE1 after his all-time performance.
Flex: Christian McCaffrey, in a great matchup with Seattle, is the best flex play.
Defenses: Buffalo could be in for a good day against the Dolphins.
Kickers: Count on Harrison Butker with the Chiefs heavily favored in Houston.

Stat Projections

Quarterbacks: Expectations aren’t high for Desmond Ridder’s first start.
Running backs: Travis Etienne Jr. should return to form with 20-plus points.
Wide receivers: Both Keenan Allen and Mike Williams are in for big outings.
Tight ends: Dallas Goedert should be more than serviceable in his return to play.

Argentina to Face France for World Cup Final

And then there were two. France ended Morocco’s magical run Wednesday with a 2-0 victory a day after Argentina punched its ticket to the World Cup final by beating Croatia, 3-0.

Argentina entered the tournament with the second-best odds to win (+500) and France was tied for the third-best odds (+700) to go back-to-back.

Now, these two heavyweights meet on the world’s biggest stage Sunday with a chance to make history, one way or the other.

Dec. 18, 10 a.m. ET (Fox): Argentina vs. France

Full-time Result Odds: Argentina (+175) | Tie (+200) | France (+175)

Croatia and Morocco face off for third place Saturday at 10 a.m. Croatia (+130) is the favorite.

In Other News

Top 60 2023 NBA Draft Prospects: Jeremy Woo released his first big board this week, headlined by Victor Wembanyama and Scoot Henderson. See which players’ are on their way up and who's on the downswing.

Best CFB Bowl Games to Bet On: Bowl season gets underway this week and there’s no shortage of college football action from now until after New Year’s. Find out which matchups are most compelling from a bettor’s perspective and get all the lines at SI Sportsbook.

Way-too-Early Heisman Candidates: USC quarterback Caleb Williams joined college football’s most prestigious club last week when he won the Heisman Trophy—as a sophomore, no less. See which other returning players could compete with him for the award in 2023.

Thanks for reading Winners Club! Good luck with your Round 1 matchup. Here’s hoping you get off to a lead Thursday and Saturday before I’m back in your inbox Sunday morning.