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Should You Bet On A Defense Or Offense in Super Bowl 51?

San Francisco at Atlanta Odds, Free Pick & TV Info

Written by on December 16, 2016

The San Francisco 49ers have lost 12 straight games, have the league’s worst defense and are pretty clearly the NFL’s worst team other than the Cleveland Browns. The Atlanta Falcons have the league’s best offense and are battling for the NFC South title. Can you say mismatch on Sunday? Here’s a look at the NFL odds for the game.

San Francisco at Atlanta Odds, Free Pick & TV Info

When: Sunday, Dec. 18, 4 PM ET Where: Georgia Dome, Atlanta TV: Fox RadioSan Francisco / Atlanta Stream OptionNFL Live Opening NFL Lines: Falcons -14 (51.5)

Why Bet on San Francisco?

Uh, I wouldn’t. Actually, this could be a trap game for the Falcons — but the Niners aren’t winning outright. San Francisco lost 23-17 in OT at home to the Jets last week. The Niners (1-12) led 17-3 at halftime, but fell flat after that and lost a franchise-worst 12th straight game. Carlos Hyde ran for a career-high 193 yards and caught a TD pass, but Phil Dawson missed two field goals and San Francisco failed to score on its final eight possessions to squander a 14-point lead for the third time this season. Colin Kaepernick completed his first seven passes with 95 yards in the first quarter before faltering. He finished 15 for 26 for 133 yards as San Francisco had just 17 yards passing after halftime — its fewest in 11 years. Kaepernick has completed 54.8 percent of his passes with 11 touchdowns and three interceptions, since taking over as the starter for Blaine Gabbert in Week 6. The 49ers are battling injuries, with left tackle Joe Staley (hamstring) and receiver Torrey Smith (concussion) both sitting out Thursday’s practice. Staley had started 92 consecutive regular season games, before missing last week’s loss to the New York Jets. Smith is in the league’s concussion protocol and still needs to be cleared before taking the field again. Tight end Vance McDonald was placed on season-ending IR. On the road the 49ers have gone 0-6 and allowed over 30 points in defeats at Carolina, Seattle, Buffalo and Miami.

Why Bet on Atlanta?

The Falcons have gone 4-4 since a 4-1 start, but they’re scoring 32.9 points per game. The 49ers defense is yielding 30.2 points per game. Atlanta quarterback Matt Ryan completed 18 of 28 passes (64.3 percent) for 237 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions for a 126.6 passer rating in the Falcons’ 42-14 win at Los Angeles last week. Ryan reached 4,000 passing yards (4,050) for the sixth consecutive season, tying Peyton Manning (1999-2004) for the second-longest streak in NFL history. Linebacker Vic Beasley Jr. had three sacks, one forced fumble and a 21-yard fumble-return touchdown in the Falcons’ win at Los Angeles. Beasley is the 10th player – and first Falcon – to record three sacks and a fumble-return touchdown in a single game since the sack became an official statistic in 1982. Will the Falcons have star WR Julio Jones here? He missed the Rams game with an injury. Atlanta coach Dan Quinn this week re-classified Jones’ injury as a sprained toe. Quinn had initially described the injury as turf toe, which could have lingered much longer than the sprain is expected to. Jones is likely to be a game-time call. Fellow WR Mohamed Sanu (groin) remained “limited” in Thursday’s practice after missing last week. Sanu appears poised to return from his one-game absence. Last year, Ryan passed for 303 yards and just one touchdown in a 17-16 loss to the host 49ers.

San Francisco at Atlanta Free Pick:

Underdog is 4-1 ATS in their last 5 meetings. Over is 6-0 in Falcons last 6 home games. Take the points, go over the NFL betting total.