49ers vs. Raiders Point Spread: NFL Pre-Season Week 1 Odds, Prediction
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San Francisco has been a model of stability in recent years under head coach Kyle Shanahan. With news that Brock Purdy should be healthy for the season, there is reason for optimism, as is often the case in the Bay Area. The same cannot be said of Las Vegas, which cannot get out of its way of mediocrity.
As for their preseason tussle, the NFL odds have the 49ers as slight -3.5 favourites.
NFL Point Spread and Betting Analysis
In three pre-season contests last summer, San Francisco went 2-1. They initially fell to the Houston Texans away. That was followed by a victory away to Minnesota. Shanahan’s ensemble then concluded the preseason at home with a win against the Green Bay Packers.
The Raiders partook in a quartet of August matches given that they were one of two clubs invited for the Hall of Fame Game, a contest they won over the Jacksonville Jaguars. Subsequent victories came against Vikings, Dolphins and Patriots, marking a perfect preseason, not that that translated to much in the fall.
San Francisco 49ers
Few, if any, other franchises can make it to back-to-back conference championship matches with so much uncertainty surrounding the quarterback position entering a season. Fewer still can pull off the feat in one of those seasons with the player pinned as the third-stringer. But that’s just how efficient the 49ers are under Shanahan.
One of those QBs, Jimmy Garoppolo, has left for Vegas, incidentally. Brock Purdy, who suffered a terrible shoulder injury in the NFL Championship game last year against the Eagles, is back in the saddle. Reports are that his practice this week has been wonky. Trey Lance, above whom a perennial question mark looms, is still around and the team signed Sam Darnold as extra insurance.
The club didn’t need to do too much on the offensive side of the ball this offseason. Most of the moves were to ensure the defence, under new coordinator Steve Wilks, stays up to par. Safety Ji’Ayir Brown was their top pick in the draft, defensive tackle Javon DeAndre came over from the Eagles, and cornerback Isaiah Oliver arrived from Atlanta.
Las Vegas Raiders
A face familiar to the 49ers will wear silver and black this season. QB Jimmy Garoppolo made the much-hyped move this spring. Everyone can say what they want about how he’s never won the big one or that he is prone to the occasional game-sinking pass. The facts are that he wins most of his games, typically makes the playoffs, and his teams often go far.
Running back Zamir White, a name uttered only intermittently last year may become a bigger factor this campaign than anyone suspected. A much-publicized contract dispute between the organization and 2022 rushing king Josh Jacobs has resulted in the latter holding out. Compounding issues is the apparent leg injury stud WR Davante Adams suffered late in the week. In a nutshell, the Raiders once again enter a season with plenty of question marks, to say nothing of the fact that they wrestle in the same division as the Kansas City Chiefs and fast-improving L.A. Chargers.
The defence has been porous for years and the club tried to rectify that in the draft by selecting DE Tyree Wilson in the first round and DT Byron Young in the third.
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LV