No change at all, in fact
Earlier this week, when we brought you the opening odds for this week’s contest at U.S. Bank Stadium between the San Francisco 49ers and the Minnesota Vikings, we gave an update that the game had been pulled off the board because of the sudden late scratch of Niners star running back Christian McCaffrey. Well, now that we’ve moved to Friday, the game is back on the board.
Apparently, the sharps don’t think McCaffrey’s injury is that big a deal.
According to the folks at FanDuel, the Niners still sit as a 5.5-point favorite heading into Sunday’s battle of 1-0 teams in Minneapolis. That’s still a smaller favorite than they were when they headed into Minneapolis last year and the Vikings pulled a pretty significant upset over the team that would go on to win the NFC.
Both teams have some significant injury issues going into this one, as Vikings’ receiver Jordan Addison will not play on Sunday after suffering an ankle injury in last Sunday’s win over New York. Yes, the Vikings still have Justin Jefferson, who missed last season’s game between these teams, but without Addison and T.J. Hockenson the Vikings are going to need big performances from some other sources if they want to come out of Sunday’s game with a win.
In McCaffrey’s absence, the Niners turned to Jordan Mason against the Jets on Monday night, and he responded by rushing for 147 yards and a touchdown on 28 carries. That means that, even without McCaffrey, the Niners are still going to have the ability to move the ball on the ground. It will certainly be a test for Minnesota’s front seven to slow that offense down.
So, while both teams are looking at significant injury losses heading into Sunday’s game, it hasn’t really swayed anything as far as betting odds are concerned. You know, if you’re into that sort of thing.
