NFL Preseason: Broncos at 49ers Odds (Saturday, August 19)

The Denver Broncos visit the San Francisco 49ers in the second preseason game for both squads. The Broncos went to Chicago in their opener and came away with a 24-17 win, as Trevor Siemian appears to have cemented his hold on the starting quarterback position. The 49ers roared back from a late deficit with 18 points in the fourth period to take a 27-17 decision in Kansas City over the Chiefs, after Iowa rookie C.J. Beathard outperformed Brian Hoyer and Matt Barkley, leading the Niners to the win — albeit against the Kansas City reserves. Which team will come out ahead on Saturday night? Take a look at our preview and NFL preseason lines before locking in your betting on this game.

NFL Preseason: Broncos at 49ers Odds (Saturday, August 19)

When: Saturday, August 19, 2017, 10:00 PM ET
Where: Levi’s Stadium, Santa Clara, CA
TV: NFL Network
Radio: KOA 850 AM Denver / KSAN 107.7 FM The Bone San Francisco
Live Stream: NFL Live
NFL Odds: San Francisco -2.5, O/U 40

Why should you bet on the Broncos?

Trevor Siemian went 6 for 7 for 51 yards and led the Broncos to a field goal in his time on the field, showing the same sort of reliability that sold the Broncos on him last year. In 2016, he completed 59.5 percent of his passes for 3,401 yards. He threw 18 touchdowns against 10 interceptions, posting an overall quarterback rating of 84.6. Those aren’t great numbers by any means, but they can reflect the sort of game manager that the Broncos can ride to wins. Paxton Lynch went 6 for 9 for 42 yards but hasn’t done the job that he would need to in order to move past Siemian on the depth chart.

Despite missing Von Miller, Denver’s defense was solid when their starters were in the game, as they forced turnovers on two of the first three Chicago drives. The San Francisco starters, behind Brian Hoyer, picked up just a dozen yards in their opener, a situation that has to make the Denver defense optimistic. With starting units generally set to get longer playing time in this week’s action, I see Denver keeping San Francisco’s offense on ice at least until halftime.

Why should you put your money on the 49ers?

San Francisco will use this game to further explore their starting quarterback position. New head coach Kyle Shanahan has (for some reason) already declared that Hoyer will be the starter. All you have to do, of course, is look at the last few years of Hoyer’s work to see that while he would be a reliable option, he gets exposed as a starter and makes poor decisions that lead either to short-arming the ball or putting it in the hands of opposing defenders. When Shanahan and Hoyer were together in Cleveland, the Browns led the NFL in yards per catch with 13.7 — but Hoyer also had a knack for throwing picks at the absolute worst time. So expect Barkley and Beathard to get some time — and expect to see the Niners open up the offense as they try to see what works.

Look at Joe Williams and Matt Breida, as they spar for the backup slot behind Carlos Hyde in the 49ers’ running game. Breida comes over from Kansas City, where he only carried the ball 11 times last season. Williams impressed against the Chiefs with his work outside the tackles. As far as defense goes, the 49ers are still under construction, but their offense showed some real signs of life against Kansas City.

Expert Pick and Final Score Prediction

I see that San Francisco has made some strides, but the miracle of C.J. Beathard will not repeat itself against this Denver defense. I like the Broncos to control the pace and grind out a 17-13 win over San Francisco.