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Monday Night Football Betting: 49ers at Saints
The San Francisco 49ers were arguably the most disappointing team of NFL Week 1. They’ll try to redeem themselves when they host the New Orleans Saints on Monday Night Football.
Bookmaker.com has San Francisco as 5 ½-point home ‘dogs with a total of 44 points. San Fran is plus 210 against the money line.
The 49ers had a lot of buzz heading into last week. They were heavy 300 ‘chalk’ to win the NFC West as quarterback Alex Smith appeared ready to take the next step. The competition also appeared weaker with Arizona losing quarterbacks Kurt Warner and Matt Leinart, and Seattle seemingly rebuilding under new coach Pete Carroll.
San Francisco opened at Seattle as three-point ‘chalk’ and limped away with a 31-6 loss. Smith finished 26-of-45 for 225 yards. He was 9-of-10 in the first quarter on short passes, but just 15-of-35 after. He also had two costly interceptions, one returned for a touchdown.
Smith was unhappy that offensive coordinator Jimmy Raye didn’t take more shots down the field. There are also rumblings about on-field communication problems with Raye.
Coach Mike Singletary is trying to get everyone on the same page and get help for Smith. Running back Frank Gore had just 38 yards on 17 carries. Wide receiver Michael Crabtree had 12 yards on two receptions.
San Francisco is just 4-10 straight-up (7-5-2 against the spread) on the road since Singletary took over midway through the 2008 season. Home is a different story (9-3 SU, 7-3-2 ATS).
The ‘under’ went 4-0 in San Francisco’s final four home games last year. The defense allowed just six PPG.
The 49ers are still plus 140 favorites to win the division, with 1-0 Arizona (plus 190) and Seattle (plus 290) moving closer.
New Orleans hosted opening night on Thursday, Sept. 9 as Super Bowl champs. The final score was 14-9 over Minnesota, just ‘covering’ the 4 ½-point spread.
New Orleans’ prolific offense was held to 14 points after averaging 35.7 PPG in its three playoff games last year. Much of the credit goes to the Minnesota defense, which stiffened up when needed.
The Saints are still the slim favorite to win the NFC (plus 340), with Green Bay neck-and-neck at plus 345.
Quarterback Drew Brees has an abundance of weapons. He threw for 237 yards last week and eight players had at least two receptions. Pierre Thomas is a solid running back and Reggie Bush is a dangerous runner / receiver as long as he’s not stewing over his forfeited Heisman.
San Francisco’s defense has a huge task containing New Orleans’ offense. Blitzing should be rare, making the Saints work their way down the field and hopefully forcing a mistake.
New Orleans’ defense will likely overload the box on early downs to stop Gore. Defensive coordinator Gregg Williams will be less afraid to blitz this week against Smith as opposed to last week against Brett Favre.
Smith needs to make New Orleans pay when it blitzes by taking shots down the field to Crabtree and tight end Vernon Davis. The team was a woeful on 1-of-15 on third downs last week, which must dramatically improve.
New Orleans and San Francisco haven’t met since September 2008, when Mike Nolan was San Francisco’s coach and J.T. O’Sullivan the quarterback. The Saints are 5-0 ATS in the last five meetings in San Francisco and 10-2 ATS in the last 12 overall.
San Francisco hosted an MNF game last December against Arizona, winning 24-9 as four-point ‘dogs. It’s 16-5 ATS in its last 21 Monday games.
New Orleans has 11 days between games. Defending champion Pittsburgh lost at Chicago (17-14) in Week 2 last year after a close win (13-10) over Tennessee on Thursday night.
San Francisco starting right guard Chilo Rachal (shoulder) is questionable. Linebacker Ahmad Brooks (kidney) should return this week after getting hurt in August. Wide receiver / kick returner Ted Ginn (knee) will not play.
The Saints are not reporting any significant injuries.
Kickoff is at 5:30 p.m. (PT) on ESPN. Weather should be clear, but only in the 50s.
The San Francisco 49ers were arguably the most disappointing team of NFL Week 1. They’ll try to redeem themselves when they host the New Orleans Saints on Monday Night Football.
Bookmaker.com has San Francisco as 5 ½-point home ‘dogs with a total of 44 points. San Fran is plus 210 against the money line.
The 49ers had a lot of buzz heading into last week. They were heavy 300 ‘chalk’ to win the NFC West as quarterback Alex Smith appeared ready to take the next step. The competition also appeared weaker with Arizona losing quarterbacks Kurt Warner and Matt Leinart, and Seattle seemingly rebuilding under new coach Pete Carroll.
San Francisco opened at Seattle as three-point ‘chalk’ and limped away with a 31-6 loss. Smith finished 26-of-45 for 225 yards. He was 9-of-10 in the first quarter on short passes, but just 15-of-35 after. He also had two costly interceptions, one returned for a touchdown.
Smith was unhappy that offensive coordinator Jimmy Raye didn’t take more shots down the field. There are also rumblings about on-field communication problems with Raye.
Coach Mike Singletary is trying to get everyone on the same page and get help for Smith. Running back Frank Gore had just 38 yards on 17 carries. Wide receiver Michael Crabtree had 12 yards on two receptions.
San Francisco is just 4-10 straight-up (7-5-2 against the spread) on the road since Singletary took over midway through the 2008 season. Home is a different story (9-3 SU, 7-3-2 ATS).
The ‘under’ went 4-0 in San Francisco’s final four home games last year. The defense allowed just six PPG.
The 49ers are still plus 140 favorites to win the division, with 1-0 Arizona (plus 190) and Seattle (plus 290) moving closer.
New Orleans hosted opening night on Thursday, Sept. 9 as Super Bowl champs. The final score was 14-9 over Minnesota, just ‘covering’ the 4 ½-point spread.
New Orleans’ prolific offense was held to 14 points after averaging 35.7 PPG in its three playoff games last year. Much of the credit goes to the Minnesota defense, which stiffened up when needed.
The Saints are still the slim favorite to win the NFC (plus 340), with Green Bay neck-and-neck at plus 345.
Quarterback Drew Brees has an abundance of weapons. He threw for 237 yards last week and eight players had at least two receptions. Pierre Thomas is a solid running back and Reggie Bush is a dangerous runner / receiver as long as he’s not stewing over his forfeited Heisman.
San Francisco’s defense has a huge task containing New Orleans’ offense. Blitzing should be rare, making the Saints work their way down the field and hopefully forcing a mistake.
New Orleans’ defense will likely overload the box on early downs to stop Gore. Defensive coordinator Gregg Williams will be less afraid to blitz this week against Smith as opposed to last week against Brett Favre.
Smith needs to make New Orleans pay when it blitzes by taking shots down the field to Crabtree and tight end Vernon Davis. The team was a woeful on 1-of-15 on third downs last week, which must dramatically improve.
New Orleans and San Francisco haven’t met since September 2008, when Mike Nolan was San Francisco’s coach and J.T. O’Sullivan the quarterback. The Saints are 5-0 ATS in the last five meetings in San Francisco and 10-2 ATS in the last 12 overall.
San Francisco hosted an MNF game last December against Arizona, winning 24-9 as four-point ‘dogs. It’s 16-5 ATS in its last 21 Monday games.
New Orleans has 11 days between games. Defending champion Pittsburgh lost at Chicago (17-14) in Week 2 last year after a close win (13-10) over Tennessee on Thursday night.
San Francisco starting right guard Chilo Rachal (shoulder) is questionable. Linebacker Ahmad Brooks (kidney) should return this week after getting hurt in August. Wide receiver / kick returner Ted Ginn (knee) will not play.
The Saints are not reporting any significant injuries.
Kickoff is at 5:30 p.m. (PT) on ESPN. Weather should be clear, but only in the 50s.
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