The NFC West's favorites collide on Thursday Night Football with the San Francisco 49ers visiting the Seattle Seahawks. The 49ers have the shortest odds to win the NFC West (-115) while the Seahawks carry the second-shortest line (+220).

Both teams are trending down and could use wins. San Francisco comes off a 24-23 loss against the Arizona Cardinals despite being favored by 7.0+ points. Seattle has lost back-to-back games by an average margin of -11.0 points per game, and Week 5's result was the worst yet with a nine-point loss against the New York Giants, which the Seahawks were favored in. We can only hope Thursday night's game is as good as the uniform matchup.

Using the NFL odds at FanDuel Sportsbook as a guide, here are the best bets for this week's Thursday night game.

All NFL projections via our numbers at FanDuel Research, and NFL odds references are to FanDuel Sportsbook. Lines may change after this article is published.

Thursday Night Football Betting Picks: 49ers at Seahawks

Over 48.5 Points (-112)

Before we get into which team looks more likely to win, let's look at the 48.5 game total. The over is 4-1 for Seattle and 3-2 for San Francisco this season.

The 49ers are logging 25.2 points per game (10th-best), 407.4 yards per contest (2nd-most), and 6.3 yards per play (2nd-most). Meanwhile, the Seahawks are putting up 24.4 PPG (11th-most), 376.2 yards per contest (7th-most), and 5.8 yards per play (9th-most). These are two quality offenses with San Fran ranking 10th in schedule-adjusted offense rankings while Seattle is 12th in the category.

Most importantly, neither defense has been playing well. After giving up only 14.3 PPG over their first three games, the Seahawks have surrendered 35.5 PPG over their last two (ouch). Seattle was leading the league with 3.9 yards per play allowed prior to Week 4, which sky rocketed to 6.7 yards allowed per play over its last two contests.

There hasn't been one specific area where this defense has struggled. After giving up 12.4 yards per passing attempt and 4.1 yards per carry in Week 4, the Seahawks got their yards per passing attempt allowed down to 6.6 last week, but it also coincided with the Giants racking up 5.1 yards per carry. Some of this could be chalked up to New York being without Malik Nabers.

The Niners' passing attack should feel pretty good as the fourth-best adjusted unit. Brandon Aiyuk's arrival with eight receptions for 147 receiving yards and 29.6 receiving yards over expectation (RecYOE) in Week 5 -- via NFL's Next Gen Stats -- only makes San Francisco's passing game even more dangerous.

The Seahawks still hold the 10th-best schedule-adjusted defense, but the last two weeks definitely put this unit into question.

After tying for the 8th-fewest yards allowed per play last season, the 49ers are 20th in the category (5.6 yards allowed per play). This unit has not played up to its potential as the 15th-best adjusted defense. The run defense has been a problem, ranked as the 10th-worst adjusted unit while giving up 4.7 yards per rushing attempt (12th-most). We could see Seattle run the ball more often as it has averaged 5.0 yards per carry (seventh-most) despite the lowest rushing play percentage in the league.

With Kenneth Walker III logging 1.29 rushing yards over expectation per carry (RYOE/C), the Seahawks shouldn't be afraid to lean on the run.

Both offenses should be able to put up some points, and pairing this with the over trends reveals our best bet for the total.

49ers -3.5 (-105)

While various models -- including numberFire's game projections -- pointing the Seahawks to cover, I trust the Niners far more in this game. While the 49ers' defense has been underperforming, Seattle's defensive struggles are on a whole different level. In fact, the Seahawks hold the second-most EPA allowed over the last two games after holding the second-best mark over the first three weeks.

Injuries have been part of the issue, and that could continue into Week 6. In Tuesday's practice, linebacker Derick Hall (foot), defensive tackle Byron Murphy II (hamstring), and Tariq Woolen (ankle) didn't participate. Plus, vet safety Julian Love was limited with a hamstring injury. All four key defenders are questionable for Thursday's game.

As previously mentioned, we saw Seattle give up over 12.0 passing yards per attempt while Jared Goff went a perfect 18 for 18 through the air in Week 4. If Woolen and/or Love can't go, the alarms should be going off with San Francisco logging the most passing yards per attempt in the league (8.8).

Brock Purdy continues to produce great efficiency, posting 0.16 EPA per dropback (EPA/db) this season. He's also holding the seventh-shortest odds to win the NFL MVP Award (+1900).

The Seahawks have the tools to take advantage of the 49ers' lacking run defense. Ahead of Thursday's matchup, offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb said, "we have to get the ball to Ken Walker more." But it feels like we've heard this over and over again, yet Walker is logging only 12.3 rushing attempts per game over his three outings. Part of this has been due to negative game scripts, but that could happen again on Thursday with the Niners favored. FanDuel Sportsbook is expecting more of the same with Walker holding a rushing attempts prop of 13.5.

If Seattle's pass play rate stays around its current mark of 67.4% (highest), San Francisco should win comfortably. This pass defense is still exceptional as the league's seventh-best adjusted unit, aided by Pro Football Focus' sixth-best pass rush grade. The Seahawks are tied for the fifth-worst pass block grade while sitting in the bottom half of sack rate allowed, and the 49ers boast the fifth-highest sack percentage.

Seattle airing it out time and time again probably won't lead to a favorable result, and I don't trust the Seahawks to stay committed to the run game considering this season's results thus far. We've heard this before, and Seattle has still rarely pounded the rock.

The Niners have won five consecutive games while going 4-1 against the spread (ATS) in this head-to-head matchup; I'm expecting more of the same.

Get ready for Thursday Night Football! All customers get one No Sweat Token for a Same Game Parlay on the 49ers vs Seahawks game happening October 10th. See here for full terms and conditions.

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The above author is a FanDuel employee and is not eligible to compete in public daily fantasy contests or place sports betting wagers on FanDuel. The advice provided by the author does not necessarily represent the views of FanDuel. Taking the author's advice will not guarantee a successful outcome. You should use your own judgment when participating in daily fantasy contests or placing sports wagers.