San Francisco 49ers vs. St. Louis Rams,
TV: 8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN. LINE: 49ers -3. O/U: 44:
All of the talk about Jim Harbaugh not getting along with upper management and possible locker room issues because of his style of coaching, it hasn’t slowed the team down much. They are still performing and winning. Kaepernick after the Chiefs game stated that he would go to war for him any day of the week. If you have the leader of the team in your corner (at least to the media) then to me that means the team at least respects what his expectations of the team are. Speaking of coaching, is Jeff Fisher who lost his leader (Sam Bradford) and top defensive lineman (Chris Long), has had some close games recently and almost beat a Cowboys team a few weeks ago that just beat the Seahawks in Seattle! That is saying a lot about Austin Davis. Yes, he is virtually a rookie given that this season he ahs seen his first regular season action but he’s held his own. In each game he has improved the yards he’s thrown for and went the first 2 weeks with no TD’s but has thrown 6 in the last 2 while only throwing 3 total INT’s all year. They beat Tamps, lead most of the Cowboy game and nearly game back to beat the Eagles last week. Don’t sleep on them especially since he is completing almost 68% of his passes and has had back to back 300 yard games! They may not have faced top tier defenses but don’t be surprised if they hang in there with the 49ers. The 49ers on the other hand, have suffered in the passing game and have been relying on the feet of Gore and Kaep. The Running game is averaging 145 yards per game which is 4th in the league. Those 2 have averaged 4.7 and 4.8 yards per carry and throwing the 3rd team leading rusher, Carlos Hyde, in there, he’s averaged 3.9 yards per carry. There issue is getting the ball into the end zone. They have just 10 total TD’s on offense and that’s partly due to only completing 47% of their 3rd downs, not keeping their drives alive. They have the players to make the plays but Kaep hasn’t been playing like the last 2 years, only averaging just over 200 yards per game. In a head to head matchup, take the 49ers. The spread is a little scary because you would think that the 49ers could win this one easily but Austin Davis has come around and played very well the last few weeks. I still would take the 49ers to win with the points -3 and to score in the Over. If it’s close, I think they still find a way to win. The funny thing is last year these 2 played 9/26/13 in St. Louis and the line was virtually the same; the 49ers covered the points and scored in the Over (35-11). 49ers 28-24.
If you didn’t check on Colin Cowherd’s picks, he had just his 2nd losing week of the 6 so far. He’s still picking 61% (19-12) on his picks to 58% (52-38) on mine but I am picking all games to his selective 5. He picks some tough ones but some softies to choose from as well.
Necessary Roughness 