San Francisco at Carolina

The good news in this matchup is that one of these teams is going to get a win. The bad news? It will be the second win for both teams all season. The 49ers got their first a week ago while Carolina is still looking for their first. This one should offer more scoring opportunities than normal for both teams. Alex Smith had a bad game vs. the Raiders, and I would expect him to rebound somewhat here vs. a Carolina team that gets very little pressure on the QB. But, it's becoming apparent that Smith is not a very good NFL QB. At least for now, it appears the Jimmy Clausen experiment is over in Carolina. Matt Moore will again take over the starting duties. Carolina should have more success this week against a team that isn't very good. Their early schedule has been tough, facing the Giants, New Orleans, Tampa Bay, Chicago and Cincinnati. Four of their first five opponents are above .500 and the last, Cincinnati, is a projected playoffs team. I don't care who the Niners are playing at this point, they simply should not be favored on the road, especially a long cross-country trip. Their last 10 games on the road backs me up. They are 1-8-1 ATS in those games. They are also 0-5 ATS in their last five trips to Carolina and Carolina has covered 13 of the last 16 meetings. I like the home dog here. I also like the OVER. The Niners are 9-3-1 to the OVER in their last 13 as a favorite of -3 or less. When facing each other, these teams have been OVER machines, as the last 13 meetings the OVER has delivered the cash 11 times. I like Carolina to cover this game and for the total to finish OVER.