Carolina +5.5 @ San Francisco: The 49ers have established themselves as one of the league’s elite teams.  However, the Panthers have quietly remained just a small step behind in the NFC hierarchy.  I expect this game to be a low-scoring battle of defenses.  In these types of games, I almost always lean on underdogs as points typically come at a premium.  Carolina is built very much like San Francisco in that they are anchored by the front 7.  The 49ers pass defense has seen the bulk of the praise from the media, but if you look closely the Panthers are not far behind:

As you can see, both of these defenses have been dominant through the first part of the early season.

I am confident that Kyle Allen can utilize his skill players to get the ball out quickly.  Since he has taken over, he has been much more accurate and efficient than Cam Newton.  In addition, he has outperformed Garoppolo in many important metrics as well:

Allen has yet to throw an interception this season, and he has the most explosive running back/playmaker in the NFL in Christian McCaffery.  I think Carolina will make sure that Allen gets rid of the ball quickly, and he has the perfect type of personnel around him for that.  Curtis Samuel and DJ Moore are the smaller, quicker receivers that can give the taller corners like Richard Sherman problems.  With the additional rest coming off the bye, I think Carolina is in a prime spot to give San Francisco their first loss of the season.