49ers vs. Chargers: Week 4 preview for San Francisco
By Chris Wilson
The San Francisco 49ers visit the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 4 of the 2018 NFL regular season. Niner Noise previews the matchup, including key stats, players to watch, X-factors, injury news and how to watch the game live.
After losing their second road game — and their quarterback for the remainder of the season — last week in Kansas City, the San Francisco 49ers take the short trip to Carson, CA for a showdown with the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday.
Check out Niner Noise’s post-game grades and analysis for a breakdown of the 49ers’ Week 3 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, including a recap of the game and full position grades.
The 49ers and Chargers enter Sunday’s matchup with identical 1-2 records, but the future appears bleaker for San Francisco, who lost starting quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo for the rest of the 2018 season after the QB tore the ACL in his left knee during the fourth quarter of last week’s game. Second-year quarterback C.J. Beathard will start for the Niners in place of Garoppolo.
Similar to San Francisco, the Chargers opened the season with a difficult schedule, including games against the Chiefs and the Los Angeles Rams. The Chargers will look to right the ship on Sunday, as their upcoming schedule is filled with winnable games over the next two months.
Las Vegas and the betting public believe Garoppolo’s absence will play a major factor in tomorrow’s matchup, as the Chargers were favored over the 49ers by just 4.5 points prior to last week’s game in Kansas City. But after Garoppolo’s injury, betting opened with Los Angeles as 9.5-point favorites, per OddsShark. Over the course of the week, the line has continued to move in the Chargers’ direction, and currently sits between 10.5 and 11.5 points, depending on the sportsbook.
Let’s break down some important statistics for the San Francisco 49ers’ fourth game of the 2018 NFL regular season: