There are few teams in the NFL that have been as inconsistent as the 49ers and the Giants. Eli Manning has had to make miracles happen with an injury riddled roster and one of the weakest offensive lines in all of football. The 49ers have had more injuries than you can count on your hands and toes and they’ve still managed to win five games. But with both teams getting key players back from injury, this game may be a lot more predictable then what meets the eye.
The Giants will have Rashad Jennings back in the line up, who most believe is by far the best running back on the Giants. The Giants are 0-4 without Jennings in the lineup and 3-2 with him in the line up. The Giants haven’t faced many defenses like the 49er’s, with the exception of their blowout loss to Seattle last weekend. The 49er’s will be better then they have been in weeks with the return of Aldon Smith.
Since Smith has joined the league, he has averaged .98 sacks per game. That’s basically a sack a game! Against a futile offensive line like the Giants, Smith is licking his chops waiting to hit the quarterback on every down. And there should be little question of Smith being game ready since he has been allowed to train with the team on a daily basis since he was suspended for nine games when the season started.
The line: San Francisco -4.5 @ Bovada.lv
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While this game seems like a toss up, it’s fairly evident to me that the 49er’s are going to dominate time of possession and get an easy win at MetLife stadium on Sunday. The Giants have lost four in a row and some are becoming certain that it’s Tom Coughlin’s last year with the Giants as head coach. “It’s Tom Coughlins last year” says Steve Serby of the New York Post. The Giants have seemed to have given up after suffering injuries to Victor Cruz as well as five starters on the defensive side of the ball. Last week against the Seahawks New York gave up 350 rushing yards and 107 rushing yards to Russell Wilson.
The 49er’s will look to attack the Giants just like Seattle did last week. Frank Gore is on the mend and will start which means that San Francisco will use its three headed rushing attack of Gore, Hyde, and Kaepernick every chance they can.
The bottom line is the lack of starters on defense for the Giants. Their 30th in the league in yards allowed and without inside linebacker Jon Beason they won’t a veteran to audible on the field. The 49er’s will run the ball and have a very high time of possession while Eli will spend a lot of time getting up from the turf and sitting on the bench. And if you’re still hesitant to pick San Francisco; Jim Harbaugh is 8-1 on the east coast as a NFL coach, so whatever he does to get his teams ready for road trips is clearly working.
Play: 49ers -4.5 @ Bovada.lv
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