The folks at OddsShark released the opening lines for this weekend's football games and the San Francisco 49ers are three point underdogs to the Dallas Cowboys. The 49ers get three points just for being a home team, but the bookies appear to think a little more highly of the 49ers.
It is not entirely surprising to see the 49ers as underdogs in this matchup given the question marks surrounding the 49ers offense. The defense and special teams blew up on Sunday and were the reason for the victory. While the 49ers did avoid turnovers on offense, it was a bone-crushing pass rush and record-breaking special teams that made the difference.
Football Outsiders released their week one DVOA ratings and the 49ers are ranked fifth overall behind Baltimore, Buffalo, Houston and New England. The 49ers rank so highly thanks to a number one special teams unit and a seventh ranked defense. The offense came in at 28th but as we saw on Sunday, defense and special teams ruled the day.
Given how hard it is to really assess a team after only one week, FO also has a stat they call DAVE (as they say "I mean, who can argue with a guy named Dave?") to provide another angle on things. The DAVE rating combines their preseason projections with the current VOA. At this point in the season, the rating is 90% preseason projections and 10% current rating. According to DAVE the 49ers are No. 17. For comparison's sake, DAVE rates the NFC West as follows:
25. Arizona
29. St Louis
32. Seattle