The New Orleans Saints (4-7) travel to San Francisco to face the 49ers (6-4) at 4:25 on Fox. Both teams are coming off wins, the Saints beat a depleted Los Angeles Rams team at home by 7 and the 49ers pounded the Arizona Cardinals, 38-10, in Mexico on Monday night. The 49ers are an 9.5-point favorite in this one, the total is 43. The 49ers are 3-1 since acquiring star running back Christian McCaffrey in a trade with the Carolina Panthers.
The 49ers won 3 straight after a 44-23 loss to the Chiefs and are averaging just over 30PPG in those 3 wins. The trio of WR Deebo Samuel, TE George Kittle and McCaffrey appears to have transformed the 49ers offense from ‘Just Score Enough for The Defense to Carry Us’ to actually being able to put up explosive numbers on a regular basis. WR Brandon Aiyuk, who leads the 49ers in catches and receiving yards, and RB Elijah Mitchell have also played key roles in the offense.
The 49ers defense still remains elite led by Defensive End Nick Bosa (10.5 sacks), Linebacker Fred Warner and Safety Talanoa Hufanga. The Saints defense has been poor this season, especially against the run. Their quarterback play has been average at best with Jameis Winston and then Andy Dalton. To make things worse, the Saints do not own their 2023 first round draft pick, they traded it to the Philadelphia Eagles (a potential Super Bowl team this year) so they could move up to #11 and select Ohio State wide receiver Chris Olave in last April’s draft. Olave has been one of the few bright spots for the Saints as he leads the team in catches and yards (51-760) and is one of the top rookies in the NFL this season.
The 49ers are clicking on all cylinders right now offensively and defensively. Meanwhile the Saints franchise appears to be in the midst of a downward spiral since Drew Brees retired and Sean Payton stepped down as coach.
The Pick:
Lay the 9.5 49ers 34, Saints 13
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