The San Francisco 49ers (7-7) take on the San Diego Chargers (8-6) looking to snap their three-game losing streak. The game will begin Saturday at 8:25 p.m. ET and can be seen on CBS.
San Francisco lost to Seattle 17-7 last week. Tank Carradine led the defensive effort for San Francisco in the loss, registering two tackles and two sacks. San Diego fell short, losing to Denver 22-10. Antonio Gates had a quality performance for the Chargers, grabbing six balls for 54 yards and one TD.
As a slight two-point underdog, the Chargers look to upset the 49ers. The Over/Under (O/U) is 41 points. Heading into Week 16 of league action, the 49ers are 7-7 Straight Up (SU) and 5-9 Against The Spread (ATS). In the past five games, San Francisco is 2-3 SU and 1-4 ATS. The Chargers are matching up with San Francisco’s defense at an inopportune time. San Francisco usually allows 20.4 points per game, but over the last five that number has fallen to 16. San Francisco’s defense will look to pad its stats against the run when the Chargers come to town. San Diego’s 82.8 rushing yards per game makes them 31st in the NFL. It is critical for the Chargers to prepare for San Francisco’s big-play defense. The 49ers rank fifth in the league with 1.2 interceptions per game. On the special teams side, San Diego may give up some big plays to the 49ers in the return game. The Chargers have allowed 123 return yards per game, the most in the NFL.
In the other locker room, the Chargers have 8-6 SU and 6-8 ATS records this season. The Chargers went 3-2 SU and 1-4 ATS over the last five games. San Diego’s defense must be getting pumped up to face off against the 49ers, who average a measly 17.9 points per game this season. San Diego’s defense ranks in the top half of the league for passing yards allowed and will look to bolster its statistics this week against the 28th-ranked passing attack of the 49ers, which only averages 198.7 yards through the air per game.
Predictions: SU Winner – SF, ATS Winner – SF, O/U – Under
Notes
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of San Diego’s last 6 games.
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of San Francisco’s last 5 games.
San Diego is 1-8 ATS in its last 9 games.
San Francisco is 15-8 SU in its last 23 games.
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of San Diego’s last 9 games on the road.
San Francisco is 1-4 ATS in its last 5 games.
The total has gone OVER in 6 of San Diego’s last 9 games when playing San Francisco.
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of San Francisco’s last 5 games at home.
San Diego is 3-6 SU in its last 9 games when playing San Francisco.
San Francisco is 13-6 SU in its last 19 games at home.
San Francisco is 1-7 ATS in its last 8 games at home.
San Francisco is 1-4 ATS in its last 5 games when playing San Diego.
The total has gone OVER in 6 of San Francisco’s last 9 games when playing San Diego.
San Francisco is 6-3 SU in its last 9 games when playing San Diego.
San Diego is 5-2 SU when leading at the half this season. San Francisco is 5-3 SU when taking a lead into halftime.
San Diego is 6-3 SU when leading at the start of the fourth quarter this season. San Francisco is 5-1 SU when leading at the end of the third quarter.
This season, San Diego is 5-2 SU in games where it wins the turnover battle, and only 1-4 SU in games where it loses the turnover battle.
This season, San Francisco is only 1-4 SU in games where it loses the turnover battle.
San Diego is an even 2-2 SU this season when allowing at least 3 sacks in a game. The San Francisco defense is averaging 3.4 sacks over its last five games.
San Diego has drawn an average of 8.1 penalties on opponents this season. San Francisco is only 2-4 SU when penalized at least 8 times in a game.
The San Francisco passing attack is ranked only 28th in the league, while the San Diego pass defense is ranked ninth. The Chargers’ passing game is ranked just 12th, compared to the third-ranked pass defense of the 49ers.
The San Francisco rush defense is ranked seventh in the league this year, and will look to contain the 31st-ranked offensive ground attack of San Diego.