Snow conditions have pummeled Highmark Stadium ahead of Sunday night's game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Buffalo Bills. While conditions should improve before game time, strong winds and some precipitation will likely impact each team’s game plan.
What should we expect from players like Christian McCaffrey, James Cook and George Kittle?
Here are the best PrizePicks player predictions for Sunday Night Football between the San Francisco 49ers and the Buffalo Bills.
Get instant alerts when a line reaches your target via the BettingPros App >>
Snow conditions have pummeled Highmark Stadium ahead of Sunday night's game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Buffalo Bills. While conditions should improve before game time, strong winds and some precipitation will likely impact each team’s game plan.
What should we expect from players like Christian McCaffrey, James Cook and George Kittle?
Here are the best PrizePicks player predictions for Sunday Night Football between the San Francisco 49ers and the Buffalo Bills.
Get instant alerts when a line reaches your target via the BettingPros App >>
Best NFL Sunday Night Football PrizePicks Player Predictions: 49ers vs. Bills
Most of the snow will have hit Highmark Stadium before kickoff, but there is still a good chance of winds over 30 miles per hour (MPH) and some snow during the game. Because of that, I believe both quarterbacks will have a hard time throwing the ball. The good news for the 49ers is that when Christian McCaffrey is healthy, the 49ers are one of the best screen teams in the league.
McCaffrey caught six passes in his first game of the season, but he's only caught seven since then. However, he's been very effective in the passing game, averaging 10.2 yards per reception this season. Even in games where the weather isn't impacting throws downfield, I like McCaffrey to get plenty of catches. But in a game like this one, he could end up being the team's leading receiver. To get this as a Demon in these circumstances is too good to pass up.
The last time we saw James Cook, he ran nine times for just 20 yards. That gave him a season-worst 2.2 yards per carry. However, for the year, he's averaging 4.3 yards per carry, and he's had more than 15 rush attempts in four games.
While Cook is averaging just 13.7 carries per game this season, the weather is once again influencing this decision. Surely oddsmakers have already factored in the snowy conditions, but it doesn't seem they've factored them in enough. The 49ers are allowing 26.3 rush attempts per game and 4.2 rush yards per carry. If Cook has success early against a defense that can be run on, the Bills may go back to him so much that he clears this by five or more carries.
George Kittle has gone for at least 57 yards in six consecutive games. On paper, this is the easiest more than of the game. However, there are multiple factors leading oddsmakers to set this number as low as they have.
First, the weather will certainly influence the 49ers' passing game. Because of that, Kittle may see fewer downfield targets, which will be problematic for a player who is averaging 13.1 yards per reception this season.
Second, the Bills are one of the best teams in the league at defending tight ends. They've only allowed 491 yards this season, which is the ninth-fewest in the league. They recently held Travis Kelce to just two catches for eight yards. Kittle has only gone for less than this number twice this season, but I expect a rough outing for him tonight.
Make sure to check out our other best bets for Sunday:
Phil Wood is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more from Phil, check out his archive and follow him @Phil_Wood_Jr.
