Another round of NFL matches begins as ever with the Thursday Night Football and this week we head for the NFC West for a divisional battle between the San Francisco 49ers and the Los Angeles Rams at Levi’s Stadium.
The Rams have begun the season positively which is the extreme opposite to the 49ers who really need to pick up a win here to kick their season into life.
San Francisco 49ers
The 49ers went into the season in transition. They have a new coach, which plenty is expected of in time, in Kyle Shanahan and with them being widely tipped to acquire Kirk Cousins at the end of the season they have the chance to blood some youngsters this term ready to build something for when he arrives.
That said in modern life you have to win now rather than later and having played two matches and not registered a touchdown this is a side who are under pressure. It might be that hosting on a short week is just the advantage they were looking for and a divisional clash always focuses the minds and ups the intensity.
Los Angeles Rams
Little was expected of the Rams when they went into the season. They have a new rookie coach and a quarterback in Jared Goff who fell flat on his face on his first season into the league but courtesy of good drafting and free agency they have managed to find the trigger man some weapons and he has shown his worth accordingly.
It remains to be seen what the Los Angeles outfit can achieve this season. You would think an improvement in terms of wins on last year would be seen as satisfactory progress but this is a side who have been in the doldrums for a while. One thing they are strong in is pressurising the quarterback which could be key.
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Betting
I said last week that I don’t like backing away sides in these Thursday night games although I am seriously tempted by the Los Angeles Rams but I fancy this could be the night the San Francisco 49ers click into gear.
If that is to happen then I would expect them to ride the back of Carlos Hyde who has a very low looking rushing yards line at 78.5. He is an underrated back who just burned Seattle Seahawks for 124 yards in a losing cause.
The Rams defence have given up 298 yards on the ground to running backs this season so far from just 58 carries at a shade more than five yards per carry. I’m expecting to see Hyde get 20+ carries in this one and if he can burst the line a couple of times he’ll saunter to beyond 78.5 yards.
Tips
WON – Back C.Hyde – Over 78.5 rushing yards for a 4/10 stake at 1.83 with Paddy Power
Back him here:
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