This is a 10* NFC TOTAL OF THE YEAR on the OVER 49ers/Panthers.

Both teams have been playing to several lower-scoring games to open the season, but I expect those trends to end in a big way here in Week 5.

San Francisco is 2-2 and Carolina is 1-3. Clearly, both teams need a win here today. When betting on "overs," I like betting on motivated teams.

The 49ers have so far seen the total go UNDER the number in all four of their games, while the Panthers have seen the total go UNDER in three of four, including in three straight.

The 49ers have had a weird season to begin with. They started off with a crazy rain game in Week 1 in Chicago, and then their starting QB got injured.

Jimmy Garopolo lost his first game in Denver by a score of 11-10, but they bounced back in last weekend's crucial 24-9 win over the Rams. Now we can expect Garopolo and company to take advantage of his porous Carolina defense.

The Panthers will have to leave everything on the field of play today to try and avoid another loss. Baker Mayfield has 747 passing yards, four TD's and three INT's and he could very likely be playing for his job this week. I think Mayfield will put up some points here at home.

I'm expecting a much more wide-open game-plan from each of these hungry sides than what the oddsmakers are trying to lead us to believe by setting this super low total.

This number is indeed low, the play is the OVER.

Good luck, NP