49ers game Sunday: Niners vs. Buccaneers odds and prediction for NFL Week 14 game

The 49ers host Tom Brady and the Buccaneers riding a five-game win streak, but they’ll be without Jimmy Garoppolo for the rest of the season.

Week 14’s game between the San Francisco 49ers and the visiting Tampa Bay Buccaneers was going to have so many awesome storylines.

Sure, there’ll still be some good ones to watch, such as quarterback Tom Brady returning home to square off against his boyhood team, and it’s also possible the Niners and Bucs are jockeying for playoff seeding, even though Tampa Bay’s sub-.500 record somehow leads the weak NFC South.

At 8-4, San Francisco is in a much better position.

Yet one of the would-be major storylines was erased last weekend during the 49ers’ 33-17 victory over the Miami Dolphins, as quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo suffered a season-ending foot injury that not only erases the Brady-Garoppolo chatter stemming from their days together with the New England Patriots, but it also puts up the GOAT against the final pick of the 2022 NFL Draft, “Mr. Irrelevant” himself, Brock Purdy.

Talk about a titanic matchup of signal-callers.

That said, Brady and the Buccaneers aren’t exactly looking like the Super Bowl-caliber squad they were two years ago, and the Niners still opened as home favorites, too, suggesting oddsmakers aren’t ruling out Purdy in light of San Francisco’s elite defense and the array of offensive playmakers.

Perhaps that’ll make a key difference in this Week 14 bout.

49ers vs. Buccaneers betting odds Week 14

The 49ers opened up as 3.5-point home favorites, according to the oddsmakers over at WynnBET. And while the home team typically gets three points on the spread, the fact the Niners are better than this with a Purdy-led offense is quite telling.

San Francisco’s moneyline is -185, whereas Tampa Bay’s is +155.

The over/under for the game is 38.0, which does suggest a lower-scoring affair.

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

49ers vs. Buccaneers prediction Week 14

Winners of five straight, the 49ers are playing hot right now, and last Sunday’s victory over a good Dolphins team was a statement win, particularly with Purdy entering in relief of Garoppolo awfully early in the game.

The Buccaneers, meanwhile, are dealing with a notable rash of injuries not unlike what the Niners dealt with for much of 2020 and 2021. And while head coach Todd Bowles’ defense is a top-five unit in points allowed, the Bucs offense is in the bottom five. No team has a worse yards-per-carry average than Tampa Bay’s 3.3 mark, which doesn’t bode well against San Francisco’s No. 1-ranked run defense.

Yes, Brady will be motivated to beat the team for which he grew up rooting as a kid, especially with friends and family in attendance.

But, even with Purdy under center, the 49ers just have too much firepower to make this a nail-biting contest.

Look for a rather convincing Niners win, 27-14.

San Francisco and Tampa Bay kick off on Sunday, Dec. 11 at 4:25 p.m. ET from Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California.