New York Giants at San Francisco 49ers

Week 3 starts with a matchup between two polar opposite playoff teams from a season ago. The San Francisco 49ers enter this game a perfect 2-0, with two pretty convincing victories against the Pittsburgh Steelers and Los Angeles Rams. On the flipside, the New York Football Giants enter this matchup at 1-1, but have looked like one of the worst teams in the league through the first eight quarters of action. While the Giants managed to escape with a victory last week against the Arizona Cardinals, they failed to score a single point in the Week 1 matchup with the Dallas Cowboys and have looked like a completely different team than the one that managed to sneak into the NFC playoffs last season.

For San Francisco, it looks as good as ever, perhaps, even the class of the NFC. The offense has put up 60 points, while the defense has allowed only 31. Brock Purdy is the real deal and capable of running the Shanahan offense thanks to his litany of weapons, including Christian McCaffrey, Deebo Samuel, George Kittle and Brandon Aiyuk.

The 49ers enter this game as the -10.0 favorite with the total at 44.

Let’s take a look at this matchup from a betting perspective…

49ers -10.0 (-110)

What to like about this line…

• The New York Giants will be without running back Saquon Barkley for this matchup, which is a massive blow to an already shaky offense. New York was shut out at home in its opener against the Dallas Cowboys, and while the Giants scored 31 points against the Arizona Cardinals last week, all of those points came in the second half, with Barkley accounting for 463 yards on 17 carries and one touchdown. This San Francisco offense has poured on the points to open up the season, while the Giants defense has been less than inspiring. Not having Barkley will undoubtedly hurt the Giants and make it harder to keep up with this potent San Francisco offense.

• While it is still very early in the season, San Francisco looks as good as ever. What makes the 49ers especially dangerous at this point is the fact that they are healthy across-the-board. Christian McCaffrey has already rushed for over 200 yards and has two scores on the season; Brandon Aiyuk and Deebo Samuel appear to be crisp, and George Kittle is currently fully healthy. The San Francisco offense is showing no signs of slowing down. Additionally, San Francisco is at home, while the Giants will have to travel across the country for the short-week primetime matchup.

What not to like about this line…

• While the San Francisco offense is loaded, there is no guarantee they play up to their full potential on a short week. Kyle Shanahan is already on record talking about the difficulties of playing on a short week and how the preparation process can feel rushed. This is important when factoring in how big the point spread is for this matchup.

• The Giants have been bad through the first two games of the season, but let’s not forget they were a playoff team a year ago. There will be plenty of pressure on quarterback Daniel Jones, who has not exactly played inspiring football to this point. However, he is coming off his best season as a professional, where he completed a career-high 67.2% of his passes while throwing for a career-low three interceptions. You’d have to imagine the Giants have more inspiring football ahead of them, and perhaps they can catch a 49ers team that is overlooking them to keep this game close. After this game, New York has three consecutive games against playoff teams from a season ago in the Seattle Seahawks, Miami Dolphins, and Buffalo Bills.

Over/Under 44.0 (-110)

What to like about the over…

• The San Francisco offense can get close to this number on its own. New York has allowed a league-high 34 points per game on average, while the 49ers are averaging 30 points per game. The Giant defense has been lousy, while San Francisco’s offense has been opportunistic. If you are looking at this game based on the first two weeks of the season, it’s hard to imagine an already uninspired Giants team hanging with this 49ers offense, especially if their defense gets gassed.

What to like about the under…

• Not only is it a short week for both teams, but you have to wonder just how much firepower the New York Giants offense may have. San Francisco will likely be able to hold up its end of the bargain and score close to, if not more than, 30 points. However, it’s a mystery as to what the Giants’ offense will be able to produce. Without Saquon Barkley, the Giants’ offensive unit becomes one-dimensional, which does not leave room for much confidence if you were looking for them to hang with an explosive San Francisco offense.

Preferred Prop: Deebo Samuel anytime TD scorer (+110)

• While the San Francisco offense has been moving the ball and putting up points; surprisingly, Deebo Samuel has yet to find the endzone as a WR. He is still one of the featured players within the offense and has been targeted over five times in both games. The beauty of Samuel is his ability to both catch and run the ball, allowing for versatility with how they can deploy him within the offense when in the red zone. On top of that, he’s always a threat to score from wherever on the field, so let’s look for him to score a touchdown in this matchup.

Steve Quinne’s Pick: SF over 27.5 points -110

Rather than lay the points with the spread or play the game total, let’s look for San Francisco to continue dominating on offense and take advantage of a Giants defense that has proved leaky so far this season. With Purdy playing confidently and a healthy skill position corps, there is no reason to think San Francisco will do anything but continue their impressive performance on offense. The 49ers have gone over this total in both games this season, and this may be their best matchup yet. There are always questions about the short turnaround between games when playing on Thursday night; however, this 49ers offense is in a groove right now.