It is a matchup of ugly on Sunday in NFL betting online as the 1-5 San Francisco 49ers visit the 0-5 Carolina Panthers. The 49ers are coming off their first win of the season last week as they defeated the Oakland Raiders but it is still hard to get too excited about taking the 49ers in NFL betting.
49ers -3 at the Sbg sportsbook – The 49ers are actually favored in this game in NFL betting. You probably laughed last week when you saw the 49ers favored by a touchdown against the Raiders but San Francisco covered. They may cover again this week because the Panthers are terrible.
Matt Moore to Start – The Panthers have even more issues at quarterback than the 49ers if you can believe that. They are going back to Matt Moore this week as their starting quarterback. Head coach John Fox said that the team will give Moore another shot and Jimmy Clausen will go to the bench.
Moore was terrible in the first two games as he completed just 40.8 percent of his passes for 307 yards with two touchdowns and four interceptions. The Panthers switched to Clausen in the next three games and he was just as bad. He has completed 43-of-91 passes for 454 yards with one touchdown and three interceptions this season.
Can Anyone Score? The Panthers have scored a league-low 52 points in five games. They have the worst offense in the league. The 49ers are not much better. San Francisco was 30th in the league in points scored before last week’s game and they didn’t do much against Oakland either. They put up 17 points but it was enough to win 17-9. Alex Smith threw two second-half touchdown passes to Michael Crabtree and Vernon Davis. So the 49ers are stuck with Smith at quarterback for at least another week.
Running Game – At least the 49ers can run the ball. Frank Gore had 149 yards rushing last week. You would think that the Panthers would be able to run the ball too but it has been a poor season for DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart.
Panthers 9-1 ATS vs. San Francisco – You can make a case for the Panthers in NFL betting online if you look at the trends. The Panthers have won 6 of the last 10 against San Francisco and they are a super 9-1 ATS. The Panthers won 31-14 the last time these two teams met in Carolina back in 2007.