The 49ers enter Sunday’s game in Baltimore in a relatively unfamiliar position. They’ll be underdogs against the red-hot Ravens. BetMGM has San Francisco as 6.5-point underdogs at M&T Bank Stadium.
It’s the first time the 49ers haven’t been favored in a game since Week 6 in Los Angeles. The line for Sunday opened at 4 points, but rapidly moved to 6.5 as money came in on the Ravens.
People may still not be sold on the 49ers. Despite a 10-1 start that includes a recent steamrolling of the Green Bay Packers, a soft early-season schedule has some holding out on buying into San Francisco. With that mindset, it makes sense that the Ravens, who’ve outscored opponents 172-46 the last four weeks, would be heavy betting favorites.
There’s also a big question mark around quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo and the 49ers offense. The NFL is such a quarterback-driven league that a team with MVP-candidate Lamar Jackson, facing an up-and-down quarterback like Garoppolo, would receive plenty of love from bettors.
Baltimore’s defense has gone under the radar because of Jackson’s meteoric rise. They’ve given up just 11.5 points per game in four contests since the bye week.
The Ravens and 49ers have followed the same formula this season for the most part. They get ahead, then run the ball like crazy and suffocate teams with swarming defenses that feast on one-dimensional attacks.
Sometimes a game comes down to who scores last, but Sunday could come down to who scores first.