The San Francisco 49ers enter their game this weekend against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on a two-game winning streak that has them 3-6 and looking to get back in the thick of the NFC West division race. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers come to town amidst a resurgence that has them sitting at 6-3 and in the thick of both the NFC South and wild card races. Naturally, the 49ers are sitting as 3 to 3.5 point favorites.
A home team is viewed as an automatic three-point favorite because of home field advantage. On that theory that would make this game a toss-up at a neutral site. There are obviously other factors that play into it, but for the most part, the 49ers sit as a slight favorite. The 49ers are current 4-5 against the spread and failed to cover 4.5 points against the Rams.
Winning is all that matters, but if you’re looking to bet money, this is a tough one to call. I do think the 49ers will win, but I’d imagine this will be a tight battle that goes down to the wire. Josh Freeman has been very solid thus far and will keep his Bucs in this one. The 49ers are rolling out Troy Smith for the third game and have seen some explosive play-making by the young QB. It should be an incredibly entertaining back and forth affair.
You might want to keep your money away from this if the spread sits at 3.5 or more. I could see betting the game at three points because you probably would see no worse than a push if the 49ers win. A one- or two-point victory is certainly a possibility, but if I had to pick any margin of victory, I’d go with three.