FanDuel Sportsbook listed the odds of the San Francisco 49ers winning Super Bowl 57 at +2000 just before Sunday's morning slate of games. After fumbling what should have been a breeze of a regular-season opener against the Chicago Bears, the team bounced back with a Week 2 win over the Seattle Seahawks and improved to 1-1.
Now, the 49ers' odds of winning are at +1800, per FanDuel Sportsbook. So what changed other than improving to .500 on the season? There was an unexpected change at quarterback.
San Francisco lost starter Trey Lance, who will undergo season-ending surgery on the broken ankle suffered during the first quarter of Sunday's 27-7 victory. Jimmy Garoppolo replaced Lance and guided the Niners to the bitter-sweet win.
Perhaps oddsmakers feel Garoppolo makes the team better than it was with the now-injured second-year quarterback. After all, Garoppolo led the 49ers to the NFC Championship Game last season, his second time doing so in a three-year span. This year's squad is arguably improved over last year's.
Oddsmakers have the 49ers are tied with the Baltimore Ravens for the No. 8 spot. The Buffalo Bills (+490), Kansas City Chiefs (+700), Tampa Bay Buccaneers (+700), Green Bay Packers (+1300), Philadelphia Eagles (+1400), Los Angeles Chargers (+1500), and Los Angeles Rams (+1500) all have better odds.
San Francisco previously owned the tenth-best Super Bowl odds in the NFL. The 49ers' odds of representing the NFC in Super Bowl 57 jumped from +900 to +850.
After failing to find a trade partner for the quarterback, Garoppolo returned to the 49ers on a reworked one-year deal, signed just before the start of the season. He'll be the team's QB1 moving forward. Next, San Francisco will head on the road to face quarterback Russell Wilson and the Denver Broncos in Week 3.
