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San Francisco 49ers vs Detroit Lions
Ford Field – Detroit, MI
Sunday October 16 – 1:00 PM EST on FOX
Spread (ATS): Detroit Lions -4
Money Line: San Francisco 49ers +185, Detroit Lions -215
Over/Under: 46
Odds courtesy of BetOnline.com
San Francisco 49ers
What a fantastic game we are treated to this week between the two most pleasant surprises in the league this season. San Francisco is coming off the most shocking result from last weekend and they just destroyed Tampa Bay team that I think is pretty good. It was their biggest winning margin since 1987. I don’t want to jinx it but Alex Smith might actually be figuring out how to play quarterback in this league.
San Francisco is currently in first place in the NFC West and playing very well under new coach Jim Harbaugh. Their defense has been superb, second in the league in points allowed at just over 15 per game, masking an offense that even though it doesn’t generate a ton of yards, scores points, 7th in the league. Facing Detroit will be their toughest test of the season so far.
There are a lot of reasons to like San Francisco this year but not in this spot. They are going to have to play some pretty inspired defense to keep Detroit out of the end zone which nobody has really been able to do all season long. If this thing becomes more of a shootout they just don’t have the weapon to keep up with the high power Lions.
Detroit Lions
It is getting harder and harder to come up with compliments for the Detroit Lions. In a national spotlight game Monday night Detroit broke their recent string of losses against the Chicago Bears. It wasn’t a great game for viewers but the Lions made some very big plays to get the win. It is a sign of this team’s development that that are able to win in a variety of ways.
What I loved most about Monday’s game is that Lions were actually able to run the ball. With Matt Stafford and Calvin Johnson it is tempting to throw it often but they need to be able to run it effectively if they want to keep up their current pace it was nice to see Jahvid Best rip off an 88 yard touchdown run but he also scampered for another 75 yards on his 11 other carries. If this team develops true balance than they are a nightmare to defend.
This could be a very special season for the Detroit Lions and I see no reason for the 49ers to derail it this week. At -4 there is good value on Detroit, helped by close score last week and San Francisco’ throttling of Tampa Bay. This is a great spot, especially with the Lions at home.
ATS Pick: Detroit Lions -4
Over/Under Pick: Over
Score Prediction: Detroit 28 – San Francisco 23
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