Jimmy Garoppolo led the San Francisco 49ers to a 31-17 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 1. However, anybody that watched that game has a pretty good idea of why that final score might be somewhat misleading. Garoppolo was held to just 166 passing yards as the defense delivered two pick-sixes in the game. Can the 49ers deliver a better offensive effort in Week 2 and start the season 2-0?

NFL Point Spread and Betting Analysis

The 49ers opened with a big win on the road against the Buccaneers and now they’re favored, which is not a role they’ve done well in lately. They’ve failed to cover five of six as a favorite. They are set to travel for the second week in a row from the Florida area up to Ohio. The travel could take its toll on a team that hasn’t traveled well when it comes to games on the East coast in recent years. San Francisco is 1-12 straight up and just 4-9 against the spread (ATS) in its last 13 games played in the Eastern Time Zone.

Meanwhile, the Bengals have been a pretty good home team in recent years despite some poor records overall. Cincinnati went 6-10 overall in 2018, but was 4-4 at home. The year before that, the Bengals went 7-9 overall, but once again managed to finish 4-4 at home. Cincinnati is 10-4-1 in its last 15 games against NFC teams at Paul Brown Stadium. They’re also 12-5 ATS in their last 17 games where the total is between 42.5 and 49 points.

San Francisco 49ers

While the 49ers did have three touchdowns negated by penalties, their expectation was to score a lot more than 17 offensive points against the Buccaneers in Week 1. Garoppolo looked shaky at times in the pocket and threw a pick-six. Meanwhile, San Francisco’s rushing attack never really got going. Running back Tevin Coleman left the game with an ankle injury and is out this week.

Fortunately for the 49ers, a revamped defense contributed 14 points off pick-six returns from Richard Sherman and Ahkello Witherspoon while holding the Tampa Bay offense to just 17 points. The defense should be able to help keep San Francisco in it again this week. The Bengals are without A.J. Green and possibly Joe Mixon too, who is hampered by an ankle sprain.

Cincinnati Bengals

Andy Dalton did his best to deliver an upset win on the road in Seattle in Week 1 but ultimately fell short. Still, it was an inspired effort that should give Bengals fans hope moving forward to Week 2. Dalton threw for a career-high 418 yards and two touchdowns without his No. 1 wide receiver A.J. Green in the lineup. John Ross III came up with seven catches for 158 yards and two scores signaling that he might finally be ready to live up to the hype as a first-round pick from 2017. Meanwhile, Cincinnati will need more from a rushing attack that was held to 34 yards on 14 carries against Seattle. Considering the 49ers gave up 121 yards on the ground against Tampa Bay in Week 1, we should see a steady dose of Joe Mixon (if active) and Gio Bernard against the 49ers this weekend.

The Bengals have flown under the radar and rightfully so after the lack of big-name additions they made in the offseason. However, Cincinnati has a legitimate chance to turn a lot of heads as a home underdog against a tired, road-weary San Francisco team with a win in Week 2.

Who Will Win 49ers vs. Bengals?