First of all, I want to thank the San Francisco 49ers for making my picture search painfully easy.  They actually published a swimsuit calender featuring their cheerleaders, meaning its a breeze finding sexy pictures to illustrate this post.  Alex Smith and Mike Singletary just don’t look as good in bikinis as does this lovely girl.  Anyway, we’ll head to snowy Philadelphia for another NFL free pick as the Eagles host the Niners.

SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS VS. PHILADELPHIA EAGLES

As a lifetime resident of the Western US, with most of that spent in the Rocky Mountain States it always amuses me what a big deal the media makes anytime there’s a snowstorm back East.  Growing up in snowy Salt Lake City, Utah, we missed a total of three days of school due to weather related circumstances.  One time a freak ice storm in the early fall caused limbs to fall of trees which tore down a lot of power lines.  Another time gusty winds in excess of 50 MPH did the same thing.  The other time was a freak power outage at the central district offices which brought down the computer systems.  We never missed school for snow, and we got a ton of it.  Like many people in the area, my family lived on the side of a steep hill and there were a number of occasions where kids would actually *ski* to school down the snowy roads.  It may have been a pain to get around when Mother Nature dropped a foot or two of pristine Utah powder, but we dealt with it.

For whatever reason, the Eastern Seaboard has been nearly paralyzed by a heavy snowstorm which has resulted in the start time for this game being pushed back to 4:05 Eastern/1:05 Pacific.  In Philadelphia, the snow is supposed to continue through tonight and taper off by early morning. Still, the weather and field conditions at game time won’t be particularly pleasant which makes the Niners’ run based offense even more effective in this spot.  Philadelphia has been installed as anywhere from a -7′ to -9 point favorite in this game depending on the book.  They’re currently one game ahead of Dallas in the NFC East, though there’s a good chance that they’ll be in better shape by game time should, as expected, Dallas lose to New Orleans on Saturday night.  They’ve got two bigger games on deck to close out the season, hosting Denver and playing at Dallas.  The Cowboys beat Philly earlier in the year, and the rematch in the season finale may or may not have playoff implications for both teams depending on how things transpire this week and next.

The Eagles have been playing well lately, winning four straight with three of those victories coming on the road.  For that reason, and the two tough teams that they’ll face n weeks 15 and 16 this was already a potential ‘flat spot’ for Philadelphia.  Though San Francisco’s on field performance has seen its ups and downs this year, there’s no denying that they’ve made remarkable strides under Mike Singletary in his first year coaching the team.  Singletary was obviously as tough as they come during his playing career when he anchored the defense on arguably the greatest team in football history, the 1985 Chicago Bears and despite a lack of coaching experience has done well imparting that same attitude on his team. The Niners are only 6-7 SU heading into this contest, but have a very realistic chance to improve upon that record with NFL bottom feeders Detroit and St. Louis providing the opposition in the final two weeks of the season.  In other words, a win here would give them a great shot at a winning record which would be a remarkable accomplishment for Singletary given the team’s struggles in recent years.

For whatever reason, the Niners have played their best during the Singletary era in the most challenging circumstances.  After an outright victory over Arizona on Monday Night Football, they’re 8-1-2 ATS against teams with winning records and are 8-0-1 in their last nine games as an underdog.  They’re only 1-5 SU on the road this year but 4-1-1 against the spread.  Overall, they’ve been one of the best ATS teams in the league this year with an 8-3-2 mark against the number. They’ll have running back Frank Gore back in the lineup on Sunday, and can run the ball all afternoon should the weather conditions necessitate.  In many ways, this is the biggest game of the season for San Francisco and even if they aren’t able to get the outright win they should be able to keep it close throughout.  This will probably be the last time the Niners are an underdog this year and there’s no reason not to take advantage of their solid form when getting points.

PLAY SAN FRANCISCO +9 OVER PHILADELPHIA