49ers vs. Bills: A prospector's guide

The San Francisco 49ers are back in action, facing off against the Buffalo Bills after an extended break from Thursday Night Football. The 49ers and Bills will kick off Sunday at 10:00 a.m. PT, and will likely be a fairly regional broadcast on FOX.

This game has of course gotten just a little bit more interesting. The 49ers announced on Tuesday that Colin Kaepernick is going to replace Blaine Gabbert as the team’s starting quarterback. This game will mark his first significant snaps since Week 8 of last season. Kelly announced the move to the media Tuesday morning, saying he wanted to get Kaepernick the snaps from the beginning of the week.

The Bills are surging right now. They lost their first two games of the season, but have taken three straight over some quality opponents. They beat the Arizona Cardinals 33-18 at home (the value of that win is still TBD). They followed that up with a 16-0 shutout of the New England Patriots, which was the first time the Patriots were shutout at home since before Drew Bledsoe joined the team. It was a Jacoby Brissett-led offense, but that is still an impressive performance. This past week, the Bills went into Southern California and beat the Los Angeles Rams 30-19. They’re rolling now, and sitting a game back of the Patriots in the AFC East.

The 49ers are currently around an eight-point underdog to the Bills. You can find lines between 7.5- and 8-points, but eight is about the average for the time being. The line came down a half point at most sportsbooks once the 49ers announced Kaepernick would be starting. He hasn’t played since last year, so I think this says more about how the sportsbooks view Gabbert than how they view Kaepernick.

Matchups: 11
Series Record: 49ers lead series 6-5
49ers Away Record vs. Bills: Series is tied 2-2
First Meeting: 9/24/72, Bills win 27-20, at Buf.
Last Meeting: 10/7/12, 49ers win 45-3, at SF
Current Streak: Won 2
Longest 49ers Win Streak: 2 – 2 times (Last 11/30/08 – 10/7/12)
Longest Bills Win Streak: 2 (9/24/72 – 12/21/80)
Most 49ers Points: 45 (10/7/12): 49ers win 45-3, at SF
Most Bills Points: 41 (12/26/04): Bills win 41-7, at SF
49ers Shutouts: 12/2/01, 49ers win 35-0, at SF
Bills Shutouts: None

LB AHMAD BROOKS

Recorded 3 tackles and 1.0 sack in the 49ers 45-3 win vs. Buf. (10/7/12), bringing down Bills QB Ryan Fitzpatrick for an 11-yd. loss.

K PHIL DAWSON

As a member of the Cleveland Browns, registered a season-best 17 points on 5 of 5 FGA’s (40, 33, 43, 22 and 56 yds.) and 2 of 2 PATs and kicked a career-long 56-yd. game-winning FG with 1:39 remaining for a 29-27 victory at Buf. (11/17/08).

WR JEREMY KERLEY

Registered 4 recepts. for 45 yds. (11.3 avg.) and 1 TD at Buf. (9/9/12), as a member of the New York Jets. In the same game, saw his lone punt return go for a 68-yd. TD, the first punt return TD of his career.

WR TORREY SMITH

As a member of the Baltimore Ravens, recorded 5 recepts. for a career-high 166 yds. and 1 TD at Buf. 9/29/13).