San Francisco 49ers at Cincinnati Bengals (-3), Total 40.5 |
San Francisco heads out on the road for the first time this season and it will be the 14th meeting between these teams. The 49ers hold a 10-3 (.769) advantage, which is the second highest winning percentage against any opponent in franchise history.
The team is 1-0-1 ATS this season, coming off a 27-24 loss to the Dallas Cowboys as three-point home underdogs. Over the span of two games, San Francisco has been out-gained by a combined 277 yards.
Offensively, the team is averaging 28.5 points a contest, but ranks 31st in the league in gaining just 207.5 yards a game. That’s quite a disparity from the Bengals coming in averaging 338 yards a contest.
Head coach Jim Harbaugh has also been preaching mental toughness in practice all week. “We have to be mentally tough. We have to keep looking at each other in the eye, keep preparing,” the former Stanford coach stated after the game. “This is not going to defeat us.”
Running back Frank Gore is one of the players that needs to lift his game up, averaging just 2.5 yards per carry, which is the second-lowest average among the 18 backs in the NFL with at least 30 carries.
49ers quarterback Alex Smith continues to lack playmaking ability, throwing for just 303 yards in two games this season, which actually trails Bengals rookie Andy Dalton by 110 yards.
49ers betting fans will find that the 49ers are 17-13 ATS over the last two-plus seasons and 0-2 ATS when playing as a road underdog of a field goal or less in betting predictions.
Cincinnati has to be happy with its performance in the first two games, coming away with a 1-1 SU record and 2-0 ATS mark. The Bengals spent the first two weeks out on the road, coming away with a 27-17 win over Cleveland before dropping a 24-22 contest to the Denver Broncos.
Dalton has earned praise from his teammates in the early going and many are expecting him to be the leader of the franchise moving forward. “As time has gone on he has realized that this is his team,” stated offensive coordinator Jay Gruden. “It doesn’t matter when you are playing the quarterback position. You are always the guy.”
In his first two starts in the National Football League, the former TCU quarterback has had ratings of 100 or more, becoming the first rookie to accomplish that since Miami’s Dan Marino in 1983.
The Bengals are 25-18 all-time in home openers, including a 15-10 victory over Baltimore last year. This season marks only the third time the team has not opened until the season’s third game. Cincinnati has tallied a 1-1 record in those previous instances.
Turnovers are once again going to be a factor entering this game, as the Bengals are off to a plus-three start, while the 49ers are plus-four. Since the 2003 season, Cincinnati ranks fourth in turnover differential among all NFL teams under current head coach Marvin Lewis.
NFL betting fans will likely be turned off by the Bengals 1-11 ATS mark as a favorite, while the team is 16-19 ATS in all games over the last two-plus campaigns.
Money is likely to follow in Cincinnati’s direction due to the team’s 6-0 ATS mark in Week 3, while San Francisco is 0-7-2 ATS as a field goal or less underdog.
