San Francisco 49ers: Post-NFL Draft Win, Loss Predictions for 2017 Season

Week 1 vs. Carolina Panthers

Week 1 games are always weird. Look no further than the last two Week 1 games the 49ers have played — both at home and on Monday Night Football.

Both were wins over the Minnesota Vikings and Los Angeles Rams, respectively. And big ones. If we based predictions of those games alone, the 49ers would have been Super Bowl contenders each year.

The Carolina Panthers present a unique challenge at Levi’s Stadium. This isn’t the same team that made it all the way to Super Bowl 50 in Santa Clara. Quarterback Cam Newton was under constant pressure and didn’t have much support outside of wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin.

That changes with the addition of running back Christian McCaffrey and wide receiver Curtis Samuel.

Carolina’s defense is still very good and, if its injury free, should be able to match up with what San Francisco tries to do on offense.

Why Carolina Wins

Newton has to revert back to his 2015 form, which may not be hard since the Panthers should have a ground game again.

The Panthers defense, notably its pass rush, is able to overwhelm a suspect Niners offensive line and also prevents any sort of ground game from taking over the clock.

Why San Francisco Wins

The Niners have halted running backs in consecutive Week 1 matchups — Adrian Peterson and Todd Gurley, respectively. They’ll have to do so again, and McCaffrey will likely take a few weeks to adjust to life at the NFL level.

This also might be a game in which head coach Kyle Shanahan takes advantage of a suspect secondary, even with rookie corner Corn Elder in the mix. The Panthers allowed 4,291 yards through the air last season — 29th most in the NFL.

Prediction