Sharp bettors take sides on Lions-49ers ‘Monday Night Football’ game

A sharp bettor at the Westgate SuperBook placed a money line wager last week on the Lions to beat the 49ers on “Monday Night Football.”

But the Westgate took sharp money on San Francisco as a 3½-point home underdog on Sunday after the Vikings (14-2) beat the Packers to set up a Week 18 showdown in Detroit (13-2) for the NFC’s No. 1 playoff seed.

“We took a really sharp bet on Detroit on the money line earlier this week and moved the price up. Now, there’s a lot of money coming back on San Francisco because Detroit doesn’t really have anything to play for,” Westgate vice president of race and sports John Murray said. “Regardless of what happens in that game, Detroit-Minnesota next week is for the 1 seed in the NFC.

“Meanwhile, (Lions coach) Dan Campbell is maintaining he’s going to play his starters the whole game. I think we’ll probably still end up needing San Francisco because of all the money line parlays going to the Lions.”

Favorites have won 13 of 14 games in Week 17 (Jaguars-Titans closed at pick’em) and are 11-3 against the spread.

Detroit is a consensus 3½-point favorite (even) after it was as high as -4.

“All indications now, we are Niners fans. The early action was clearly on Detroit, but we’ve seen the number start to come down,” Red Rock Resort sportsbook director Chuck Esposito said. “It doesn’t mean as much to Detroit after Minnesota’s win. It’s going to come down to the last game of the season.”

The Lions (10-5 ATS) are -190 on the money line and the 49ers (6-9, 5-10 ATS) are +170.

The total is 50½. Both teams have 8-7 over-under records. Detroit is on a 3-0 over run and San Francisco has gone over in two of its last three.

The Lions blew a 24-7 halftime lead in a 34-31 loss at San Francisco in last season’s NFC title game. It was Detroit’s third straight loss to the 49ers and its 12th defeat in their last 13 meetings. The Lions have lost 14 straight at San Francisco, where they haven’t won since 1975.

The 49ers have lost five of their last six games and are on a 1-6 spread slide.

Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com. Follow @tdewey33 on X.