Here’s a look at one of this weekend’s exhibition battles where I see some reasons to give the points.
49ERS @ BRONCOS
Take: BRONCOS -5
The 49ers and Broncos should be quote familiar with one another by the time this game kicks of on Saturday evening. The two teams will be practicing together for a couple days, and this brings up an interesting point that coupled come into play this weekend.
I have to think there’s a built in advantage for the Broncos as lengthier than normal stays in that Mile High altitude are not generally the best thing for visiting teams. I’m not sure exactly wheat that’s worth, but I don’t think it can hurt my case for the Broncos.
This will be the first home game for Gary Kubiak as the head coach of the Broncos. So far this pre-season, the new coaches are a perfect 5-0 both straight up and against the line in those home debuts.
Peyton Manning quarterbacked four series last game for the Broncos and Denver ended up punting the ball away each time. This game might not count for anything that matters, but I don’t mind the idea of backing Manning off an outing that wasn’t very good, particularly;y by his lofty standards.
The 49ers scored a relatively easy 23-6 win over Dallas, but the result was really more a case of the Cowboys not caring at all about the game and flooding the field with third and fourth team personnel while still in the first quarter. This was not unexpected, as head honcho Jerry Jones had expressed concern about the turf condition, and Dallas played the game with zero intensity and from what I could tell, very little in the way of a game plan.
It’s also worth mentioning that even with what appeared to be little real prep work by the Cowboys, San Francisco was still unable to get into the end zone with their popgun offense. The 49ers have looked pretty good on the defensive side of the ball, but the offense has been very ragged and it’s not mere speculation to suggest this unit is going to be less than stellar once the games start to count.
I generally don’t like to give up more than a field goal with any pre-season favorites. But the check marks here keep showing up on the Denver side and at this point, I’ll be surprised if this is a close game. I’m looking to lay the points on Saturday night with the Broncos.
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