Los Angeles Rams at San Francisco 49ers Betting Preview/Prop Picks
03 October 2022
Time: 8:15 pm ET
Dunkel Ratings: LA Rams 130.971; San Francisco 141.404
Dunkel Line & Total: San Francisco by 10 ½; 46
Vegas Line & Total: San Francisco by 2 ½; 42
Dunkel Pick: San Francisco (-2 ½); Over
The Los Angeles Rams come into tonight’s game with a record of 2-1. Last week, they earned a 20-12 win over the Arizona Cardinals. Today, they’ll face another NFC West rival as they go to San Francisco and face the 49ers.
This is going to be a tough test for the Rams, especially on offense. Can they get creative enough to get past the fortified front seven of San Francisco?
The San Francisco 49ers have a 1-2 record to start the season. They were unable to take down the Denver Broncos last week, a surprising defeat. Jimmy Garoppolo is still the starting quarterback, giving them their best chance of winning.
Today, we’re going to look at what each of these teams brings to the contest. From there, we’ll make our pick for Monday’s game.
Los Angeles Rams: Rams need to strike early and often
One troublesome thing we’ve seen about the Rams is inconsistency with their offense. Today, they can’t afford to be inconsistent. They need to strike fast and get the 49ers on their heels.
If they can do this, they should be able to pull off a win on the road. As a team, the Rams have averaged just 20.3 points per game. In order to win, that number needs to go up on Monday.
Defensively, the Rams have allowed 23.3 points per game, around the league average. What we’d like to see is the Rams establish their running game. By doing this, they’ll keep the 49ers offense off the field.
This season, they’re averaging just 72.3 rushing yards per game, ranking 29th overall. Moving the ball efficiently on the ground will take pressure off their defense.
San Francisco 49ers: Garoppolo needs to be better tonight
It’s safe to say that QB Jimmy Garoppolo would like to forget last week’s loss to the Broncos. However, he’d do well to remember it and do his best to avoid it happening again.
Last week, Garoppolo went 18-29, passing for 211 yards with a touchdown and an interception. He also accounted for the safety, which effectively allowed the Broncos to win last week.
Getting started early on offense will help the 49ers assert themselves against the Rams. As we noted, the Rams allow 23.3 points per game and allow nearly 270 passing yards per game.
The 49ers need to exploit this early and rely on their defense to do the rest. Ranking first in the NFL at the moment, the 49ers allow just 12.3 points per game.
Los Angeles Rams at San Francisco 49ers Betting Pick
There are several things to take into consideration before betting on this game. One of them is that Rams QB Matthew Stafford has thrown five interceptions already this season.
We’ve seen what happens to the Rams when they play good defenses. In Week 1, they lost 31-10 to the Buffalo Bills, and they were playing at home.
This week, the Rams will face the best defense in the league at the moment. Not to mention, the 49ers offense has shown a lot of talent at key moments as well. Because of this, we’ll take the 49ers at -2.5 and the over as well.
Prop Picks
San Francisco (-110) OVER 21.5 Points
San Francisco averaged 24.0 points per game last season on offense, which ranked No. 15 in the NFL. That average increased to 25.4 points per game at home.
With Dunkel predicting a San Francisco win by the score of 28-18, take the 49ers (-110) to finish OVER their Vegas team total of 21.5 points versus the Rams.
Matthew Stafford (-115) OVER 247.5 Passing Yards
LA averaged 277.5 passing yards per game last season, which ranked No. 5 in the NFL. That average increased to 279.4 passing yards per game on the road.
With Dunkel predicting the final score going OVER the Vegas point total, take Stafford (-115) to finish OVER 247.5 passing yards against the 49ers.
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All Media on this page by Associated Press.
