The San Francisco 49ers are traveling to face the Green Bay Packers this week on Monday Night Football, and both teams are scuffling along. The 49ers were lost to the Arizona Cardinals 28-18 in a game they dominated in the stat sheet, but trailed almost the entire game. The Packers lost 31-23 to the Detroit Lions, stumbling out of the gate and never able to get fully on track.
The 49ers-Packers line opened at the Westgate sportsbook with the Packers installed as 7.5 point favorites. The line opened at 4:07 p.m. PT, right when the 49ers had cut the Cardinals lead to 14-12 and failed to convert the two-point conversion. The 49ers defense got a stop, but that was quickly followed by the Cardinals getting a strip sack and defensive touchdown to take a 21-12 lead.
It is not surprising then that the line has been tumultuous in the 12+ hours since. The line quickly climbed as high as Packers -11. As of publication time on Monday, a few sportsbooks still sit at -11, while a few others are at -9.5.
It’s interesting trying to figure this game out. Both fanbases are not particularly pleased at this point, but seemingly for different reasons. The Packers still have Aaron Rodgers out there, but they can’t do anything with consistency. Meanwhile, the 49ers lost Jimmy Garoppolo and Jerick McKinnon to torn ACLs, and now Matt Breida is banged up with an ankle sprain. The 49ers are 1-4 and in the cellar of the NFC West, while the Packers are 2-2-1, tied with the Minnesota Vikings behind the 3-1 Chicago Bears. The Packers are still in the mix, but their fans are just not happy right now.
If the line settles at 10.5 or 11 points, the 49ers are actually kind of tempting. Early betting is heavy on the Packers, which is not surprising given how the 49ers looked last week. But with the ability for turnover differential to potentially regress to a mean, there could be some value if this spread gets up above ten.