The 49ers won their opener and one of the biggest surprises in Week 1 was the Eagles blowout road win over the Atlanta Falcons.
The 49ers are a 3.5-point road favorite in this NFC matchup and as of Tuesday the public has slightly backed them, as they opened as a 3-point favorite. The total for this game is 50.
After Week 1 the 49ers are 1-0 and 1-0 ATS and the Eagles are 1-0 and 1-0 ATS.
The 49ers won their opener on the road beating the Detroit Lions 41-33 and while the offense was solid you can’t say the same about their defense.
The Eagles laid a 32-6 beat down on the Falcons in their opener where they looked great on both sides of the ball. They did not allow a TD, shut out Atlanta in the second half, and for the game outgained them 434 yards to 260 yards.
Last season in the City by the Bay the Eagles beat the 49ers 25-20 but that was with the departed Carson Wentz under center. The Eagles covered in that game and have covered the spread in seven of their last nine games facing the 49ers.
Offense Great, Defense Not So Much
In the win over the Lions the 49ers racked up 442 yards but also gave up 430 yards.
The 49ers built a 28-point lead but almost gave it away. They even fumbled late and gave the Lions the chance to tie the game but were stopped on downs.
Jimmy Garoppolo was 17 for 25 for 316 yards with a TD and no INT. Deebo Samuel was huge with 189 receiving yards and star TE George Kittle had 78 receiving yards. Elijah Mitchell was solid rushing for 104 yards with a TD and averaged 5.5 yards per carry. #1 RB Raheem Mostert missed eight games last season and injured his knee in the Detroit game and is expected to miss eight weeks.
San Fran will be facing an Eagles’ defense that was more than impressive in their season opening win over the Falcons. They held Matt Ryan to only 164 passing yards, only allowed him to average 4.7 yards per completion, and also sacked him three times for a loss of 28 yards.
Turning It Up in the Second Half
In their win over the Falcons in Week 1 the Eagles were only up 15-6 after the first half but outscored them 17-0 in the second half.
Jalen Hurts showed a lot in the opening win going 27 for 35 for 264 yards with three TD and no INT and also rushed for 69 yards. He was only sacked once and his line will be key in this game facing Nick Bosa, who had a sack last week, and a legit San Fran pass rush.
Miles Sanders rushed for 74 yards in the Atlanta win averaging nearly five yards per carry and also had four catches for 39 yards. Look for the Eagles to use a lot of play action and short passes to avoid the pass rush.
DeVonta Smith led the Eagles with 71 receiving yards last week and five players for the team had at least 34 receiving yards.
The Prediction
The 49ers are only 9-25-1 ATS in their last 35 games as a favorite while the Eagles are 5-0 ATS in their last 5 games as a home underdog. However, I do not look for those trends to continue.
The Eagles are flying high after last week’s blowout win but face a much better team this week in the 49ers. San Fran got a little complacent after a 28-point lead over the Lions in the last game and the team probably caught a tongue lashing from head coach Kyle Shanahan because of it. That will not happen again, as the D will play well the whole game and Jimmy G and the run game will be solid. I do not see the 49ers blowing out the Eagles but they will get the win and cover the spread.
PICK: 49ers -3.5