This game sees 2 teams who have been shattered by injuries. The list of injured players these 2 teams could rack up between them could form a quality starting team.
And we’re only going into week 4. The Eagles early season form has been extremely poor, which is in no small part to the poor form of QB Carson Wentz. If Philly are to salvage their season, they need Wentz to turn it around pretty soon. They also need guys to step up and help him, because he can’t do it by himself. His offensive line is a complete liability and between injuries and other issues, nobody has provided a reliable option to take the pressure off him.
The 49ers stand at 2-1 at the moment which could have been worse given the problems they’ve had with injuries. They’ll thank their lucky stars their last 2 games were against the Jets and Giants and have another winnable one this weekend.
PP Betting:
Money line: Eagles 5/2 49ers 3/10
Points Spread: 49ers -7
Over/Under: 46
Personally, I’d be inclined to avoid putting money on this game altogether. I wouldn’t put either team in an acca. If I was to bet, it would be low risk/high reward. I can’t hang my hat on anything with confidence here. Too much unknowns heading into the game.
Fantasy Football:
QB’s
We still don’t know if Jimmy G is likely to suit up for SF as he recovers from a high ankle sprain. Nick Mullens had a good showing against the Giants but isn’t someone you really want to be relying on. Not a bad shout if you’re in a pinch for this week, assuming he plays.
Carson Wentz’s form has already been mentioned. He has thrown 6 interceptions to 3 Touchdowns over the first 3 game, although he added 2 rushing TD’s too. The talent is still there but the confidence and composure may not be at the moment. As stated, the help around him must improve too.
RB’s
The 49er Running Back committee is hurting. Tevin Coleman is gone for the season and Jerick McKinnon and Raheem Mostert are both dinged up. Somehow you just don’t put it past Kyle Shanahan to engineer a productive run game with whoever is there. It is worth checking late injury updates to see who is available here.
Philly may try to lean heavily on Miles Sanders in this game. He has shown an ability to carry their ground attack and unless they end up trailing big early, he could see a lot of the ball.
WR’s
Nobody stands out in the San Fran receiving group, especially with Deebo Samuel out. If you’re really stuck for someone to plug into your line up, you could do worse than picking up Brandon Aiyuk if he’s available in your league.
Alshon Jeffery is back in practice and hasn’t yet been ruled out of returning for this game. He would slot back in as the Eagles main receiver if he does return. DeSean Jackson is a big play threat as always should his fitness hold up. JJ Arcega-Whiteside has been a swing and a miss so far in his Eagles career.
TE’s
Fantasy monster George Kittle is a doubt for the game after sitting out the last 2 weeks with a knee injury. Jordan Reed took over while Kittle was out, but he now finds himself in a position he is all too familiar with, IR. With nobody of note behind them in the depth chart, SF will give Kittle every chance to prove he can play before sitting him again.
Dallas Goedert is among the latest Philadelphia Eagles to be bitten by the injury bug and he will miss at least 3 weeks. That may come as good news for Zach Ertz’s fantasy owners as his value to that passing attack goes up. Should Wentz snap out of the slump he’s in, Ertz will probably be the biggest beneficiary.
My Prediction:
This will be an uphill battle for Philadelphia but that isn’t anything they aren’t used to. They dragged themselves to topping a brutal NFC East last year despite being huge injury problems on both sides of the ball. So, it wouldn’t be wise to write them off regardless of how bad they have looked so far. That said, I think the 49ers might just have too much for them in this one.
Niners by 4
