San Francisco (1.57 and -3 @ 1.83) @ St Louis (2.45 and +3 @ 2.00)
I’m struggling a tad for inspiration this week after a second wheel fell off the San Francisco bandwagon last week, and the Rams were, let’s face it, fairly pathetic against the Cowboys. But, as Laurene Powell used to say, “If a Job’s worth doing, it’s worth doing properly”. So let’s try and get back some of that Thursday Night Mojo.
It strikes me that this week is a potential watershed game for one of these teams. The Rams played their best football against the 9’ers in their two match ups last year, and started this season with a win, a close-ish loss to the Falcons, before a blow out loss last week against Dallas. The most worrying stat from that game – they were 0-12 on third down conversions until the final play of the game. That’s right, they very nearly went an entire match without a single third down conversion. They are in an incredibly tough division, but if they are to set their foot on the path to being a playoff contender in years to come, they need to improve markedly, and this is a great place to start. The 49’ers meanwhile looked anaemic against the Colts last week and are in real danger of slipping out contention all together unless they get things turned around, and fast. Up against an average secondary, Kaep couldn’t find an open receiver for love nor money last week, and in terms of targets, things don’t look much better this week – Vernon Davis is still likely to be sidelined, while Crabtree and Manningham are still weeks or months away. Throw in Anton “Amy Winehouse” Smith and it’s no wonder the 49’ers are doing it tough. So who does Kaep throw to – well, Anquan Boldin for one. He used him brilliantly in week one, and he needs to go back there. I also think he needs to be prepared to play to his strength and use the read option more liberally. Meanwhile the defense has to step up and be the wall that they were in 2012.
Incredibly, last week’s loss was the first time under coach Harbaugh that San Francisco has dropped 2 games in a row. If they drop 3, they are in huge trouble, and I just can’t see it happening. Great adversity breeds great Champions. Or something. I’m sticking with Kaep and the boys to get their shit together off the back of a big game from Franky Gore against a porous running defense…
So the bet…$30 on Frank Gore to rush for more than 75.5 yards, and $20 on the 49ers -3.5/over 41.5 @ 3.75. Git some!
pelicanpunting 