Coming off a 34-7 loss in Week 1 of the preseason to the Las Vegas Raiders, Kyle Shanahan’s San Francisco 49ers will be taking on his father’s old team in Week 2 with a quarterback controversy looming.
Despite the Sean Payton era in Denver officially underway, the Broncos are hoping to see a little more from their offense as they head to California coming off a last second 18-17 loss to the Arizona Cardinals.
This is a duel between two teams with clear flaws, yet major playoff, if not Super Bowl, aspirations, and even in the preseason the outcome could carry some serious weight given the importance of depth when making a push in December.
Find out where my best bets lie in our NFL preseason picks and predictions for Broncos vs. 49ers on Saturday, August 19.
Broncos vs 49ers odds
Broncos vs 49ers predictions
While the San Francisco 49ers have a starting quarterback, as long as he doesn’t melt in practice, there’s very valid concerns over how far this team can go. Shanahan once again has a Super Bowl ready roster, yet an unspectacular passer at the helm.
Brock Purdy went from Mr. Irrelevant to starting quarterback in the NFC Championship, however, he still has plenty of naysayers, especially as he comes off an elbow injury.
After not playing against the Raiders last week, the Iowa State product may see some action with the Denver Broncos coming to town, but knowing Shanahan he can’t even guarantee anybody will be alive for the game.
“I’m going to talk to the trainers with the rest of our teams and everything,” he said about Purdy playing Saturday. “I might get Brock in there for a little bit. I have not finalized that yet, but thinking about playing the ones, for possibly a series, a little in the first quarter.”
It sounds as if the 49ers second and third units will be playing at least three quarters against the Broncos… and it’s hard to imagine they’ll put up too many points making the Under 39.5 tasty.
Without Purdy last week, Trey Lance, Sam Darnold, and Brandon Allen went 20 of 31 for 214 yards with a touchdown (that should have been an interception) and an interception.
To make it tougher for the offense, the big boys up front weren’t overly inspiring, a commonality when it comes to preseason; there just isn’t enough offensive line depth in the NFL.
Behind the offensive line, the team ran for just 69 yards and averaged a measly three yards per attempt.
The 49ers second-string offensive line is pretty all over the place with the “star” being Jaylon Moore, a third-year fifth-round pick with five NFL starts. Most of the third unit for the team is undrafted rookies.
They’ll have a hell of a time dealing with a Broncos front seven that has depth all over the place and could even see some substantial playing time for the starters.
“We’ll get a little bit more work with the (No. 1 units) in this game, and then certainly in the third game, we’ll approach it completely differently,” Payton said on Aug. 14.
If the Broncos throw out Randy Gregory, Frank Clark, Zach Allen and DJ Jones against the 49ers second-string offensive line, that’s just cruel, but it’s more than likely it will happen.
Even beyond the starters, Denver has depth and athleticism with young experienced players like Nik Bonitto, Matt Henningsen, and Jonathon Cooper… and don’t forget third-round rookie Drew Sanders who fits Vance Joseph’s scheme to perfection.
Whether it’s Lance or Darnold, they’ll probably split the majority of the game again, it’s going to be hard to throw under pressure against a secondary as deep as what the Broncos will be bringing to Levi’s Stadium.
Behind stars like Patrick Surtain II and Justin Simmons, Joseph can deploy a fun mix of young players who have played meaningful snaps; plus third-round rookie Riley Moss who will surely have the broadcast bringing up Jason Sehorn.
With Payton pointing to starters seeing more time in this one, it’ll be a good opportunity to get eyes on Russell Wilson as he tries to rebuild his once stellar reputation.
He had some solid moments last week against the Cardinals (completing 7 of 13 passes for 93 yards and a score), and the offense looked lightyears better than when Nathaniel Hackett was calling the shots.
But take that with a grain of salt, and more importantly, keep in mind he could lead a scoring drive in the first quarter and it won’t hurt the Under much if Jarrett Stidham and Ben DiNucci look how they did against the Cardinals in the remaining three quarters.
Both of Denver’s backup quarterbacks appeared to be lost against Jonathan Gannon’s defense and managed to combine for just 107 yards on 24 passes; they completed only 12 of them and added an interception.
Stidham looked especially bad, and it’ll only be worse when Denver’s youthful second and third string offensive lines have to deal with one of the deepest defensive line rooms in pro football.
How will guys like Isaiah Prince and Quinn Bailey handle a 49ers second unit that touts former first-round picks in Javon Kinlaw and Clelin Ferrell, experienced vets in Kerry Hyder Jr. and Kevin Givens, and a rookie freak show in Robert Beal Jr.
Raiders rookie quarterback Aidan O’Connell was able to carve up the 49ers secondary, and even had some comparing him to Purdy, but he was mainly dealing with Steve Wilks third-string defensive line.
The Under is singing when you start to think about Sam Darnold and Jarrett Stidham behind undrafted rookie offensive linemen.
My best bet: Under 39.5 (-110 at bet365)
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