Bucs vs. 49ers Pick
Will both the Bucs and 49ers offenses struggle on Sunday when the two teams clash at 4:05PM ET in San Francisco?
According to oddsmakers from online sports book BetDSI, the 49ers are now 1-point home underdogs versus the Buccaneers after opening as a 2-point dog earlier in the week. As for the total, the number has already dropped a half point, falling from 47 down to 46.5.
The Buccaneers are trying to avoid their fifth straight 2-4 or worse start. Dirk Koetter would be the fourth consecutive Tampa Bay head coach to open his first season 2-4 or worse, joining the likes of Raheem Morris, Greg Schiano and Lovie Smith. That should make Bucs fans reminisce about the greatness of Jon Gruden, who was 5-1 in his first six games as Buccaneers head coach in 2002, on the way to a Super Bowl XXXVII victory.
Following their blowout loss at Buffalo last week, the Niners have now lost five straight games for the first time since the first five weeks of their 2010 season. Their last six-game losing streak was in Weeks 4-10 of 2008 and in both of those seasons, the 49ers replaced their head coach during the year (in 2008 they fired Mike Nolan and in 2010 they fired Mike Singletary).
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OUR PREDICTION: In his first game back as the starter for the 49ers, Colin Kaepernick completed just 45-percent of his passes in the team’s 45-16 loss. That was the third worst completion percentage in a start in Kaepernick’s career. The under is 20-6 in the Niners’ last 26 home games and is 16-7 in their last 23 games following an ATS loss. On the other side, the under is 15-6 in the Buccaneers’ last 21 games versus a team with a losing record and is 5-0 in their last five road games versus a team with a losing home record. With Kaepernick struggling and the Bucs’ offense still banged up, look for the combined score to fall well under the total on Sunday.
NFL WEEK 7 PICK: BUCS/49ERS UNDER 46.5