Falcons vs. 49ers Point Spread – Free Pick 12/19/21

Atlanta Falcons (6-7 SU, 6-7 ATS) vs. San Francisco 49ers (7-6 SU, 6-7 ATS)

Week 15 NFL

Date/Time: Sunday, December 19, 2021 at 4:05PM EST

Where: Levi’s Stadium, Santa Clara, California

TV: CBS

Point Spread: ATL +9/SF -9 (Betanysports – Imagine how much money you would save if you wagered on games at -105 odds instead of -110! This awesome sportsbook offers you the ability to make this a reality!)

Over/Under Total: 46

The Atlanta Falcons take on the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday at Levi’s Stadium in a big NFC matchup. Both teams performed well last week, with the Falcons posting a nice 29-21 win over the Panthers on Sunday to go to 6-7, not a bad mark considering all their issues. San Francisco, meanwhile, keeps chugging along, and a 26-23 overtime win against the Bengals on Sunday showed that despite numerous issues, they’re not ready to pack it in yet. If either of these teams wants to be in the running for the postseason, this is a must-win.

The Character of Each Team

It’s hard to find two teams getting more out of what they have. For San Francisco, the amount of injuries is laughable if it weren’t so sad. On both sides of the ball, the injury bug has been merciless. And whether it’s their wherewithal, the coaching, the heart of the team, or just the fact that they’ve built some depth after seeing this same thing unfold for years, they’re not going away. Top weapons like Deebo Samuel and George Kittle have been in and out of action, they’re about four backs deep into their RB barrel, and there are more defensive players on the injury list than there are guys remaining on the field. And still, here we are in week 15 talking about a team that has legitimate hopes.

All season, we’ve heard the narrative about Atlanta. Matt Ryan is ancient and can’t move behind a doo-doo line. They can’t run the ball. The one thing they can still do often isn’t great with Matt Ryan slinging it to an up-and-down tight end in Kyle Pitts and a stripped-bare receiving crew whose best weapon might be Russell Gage. The one constant source of optimism is Cordarrelle Patterson, who has really been a cure-all for an offense that often has very little to celebrate. It’s the 24th ranked offense in the league, with a “D” that is ranked 25th. But their overall results don’t reflect that as a win this week gets them to .500.

With a 6-5 record in their last 11, you never know quite what you will be getting with the Falcons. But of those six wins, five of them were on the road, where they’ll be this week. It’s been remarkable how much better they play on the road compared to at home and against people’s expectations. At home, it has basically been a disaster, with one mere cover earlier in the season. The main takeaway is that while this seems like a potentially-cushy spot for the Niners, it might not be as easy as it looks on the surface. You have a Niners team showing all kinds of heart overcoming all this adversity. Well, of course, they’ll tame the Falcons at home, right? It just hasn’t been that easy, has it?

Possible Edges for Atlanta

Attempting to paint the Atlanta defense as a good one is a futile act. But there are bright spots they can wield against a San Fran offense that is always up against it injury-wise. And that goes for a line that has taken its share of bumps this season. Cornerback AJ Terrell makes this Falcons’ secondary a troublesome unit, at least more than what the numbers might indicate. It’s a defense that can make some splashy plays here and there. It’s not what you would call a good defense, but there are enough things they do to take a sad song and make it better on this side of the ball. And sometimes, when tuning in, you won’t see a defense living up to the low-level stats they possess. It’s a “D” that plays with a bit of a divergent range from week to week.

Some of the same thing is evident on the Atlanta offense, a group with unenviable yearlong stats, but still a group that could jump up from time to time. Against Cincy last week, the diminished state of the San Fran defense didn’t really resonate fully, with the Bengals only getting it together late in the game. And while it’s true that the Falcons rely more on a tricky type player in Patterson more than can rely on a typical run-game with deficient Mike Davis, they still can get it to work on a fairly regular basis. Their sum total at least slightly eclipses what the quality of their individual pieces might suggest.

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Bad Time to Go Against the 49ers?

Now that we’ve amply explored the true scope of Atlanta’s danger-levels heading into this game, lets’ also point out that four wins in five games at a time when people expected the 49ers to go away shows they’re not going to be easy to overturn. Sure, Seattle did it a few weeks ago, showing that San Fran is exactly the type of flawed team that isn’t going to thrive every time you think they will. A little healthier now perhaps, with certain injury designations having not yet been hashed out, this would, in fact, be a strange time for the Niners to hit a wall. Coming this far and working so hard and seeing it all fall flat against the Falcons just doesn’t ring on the surface as being all that plausible. Then again, there is a number involved.

Take the Points

Not to get too attached to the Falcons, being that are bound to disappoint at the drop of a hat, but I prefer the Niners in a different kind of role. When people underplay them, and they’re in a tough spot seems like the better time to take the Niners. When people are expecting smooth sailing and a team that has this many holes in it is being asked to cover a hefty number, the appeal seems to get sucked out of the equation a bit. I see the Falcons getting enough big plays to hang in there and cover the number on Sunday. I’ll take Atlanta.

Loot’s Prediction to Cover the Point Spread: I’m betting on the Atlanta Falcons plus 9 points. Bet your Week 15 football picks for FREE by taking advantage of a 100% real cash bonus on your first deposit of $100 to $300 at MyBookie Sportsbook! (Must use bonus code PREDICT100).