The 49ers are the only undefeated team in the NFC. They’re also underdogs on the road against the reigning NFC Champion Rams on Sunday afternoon. BetMGM has San Francisco as 3.5-point underdogs in Week 6.
This is actually a pretty significant indicator of how far the 49ers have come since the start of the season. San Francisco opened the year as 8.5-point underdogs in Los Angeles. The line coming down five points shows how rapidly the 49ers have earned respect, and how much sports books believe in their 4-0 start.
LA giving 3.5 points essentially accounts for them being the home team, meaning they’re about even with the 49ers from the book’s perspective. It’s not outrageous to view the 49ers and Rams as equals at this point. While the Rams have seen a bit of a drop off coming off a trip to the Super Bowl last season, San Francisco has been lights out on both sides of the ball.
What’s more advantageous for the 49ers is that they have a formula that can be very effective against LA. They rush the quarterback at an extremely successful rate. Rams quarterback Jared Goff isn’t as good when he’s thrown off schedule. San Francisco’s pass rush is good enough to keep Goff from ever settling in and getting comfortable.
On the other side, they run the football as well as any team in the league. Dominating time of possession against LA keeps their offense off the field and keeps them out of a rhythm.
If the 49ers follow the game plan they’ve followed through the first four weeks, and they execute at a high level, there’s no reason to believe they can’t leave the LA Memorial Coliseum with a win, or at least leave as a bona fide threat to the Rams’ NFC West crown.
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