4 reasons why 49ers lose to Browns on Monday Night Football
By Peter Panacy
The San Francisco 49ers may be favored in their Week 5 prime-time matchup against the Cleveland Browns. But if the Niners lose, these four reasons will likely be to blame.
According to Bovada, the San Francisco 49ers are 3.5-point favorites for their home Monday Night Football matchup in Week 5 against the 2-2 Cleveland Browns.
The Niners, the only remaining undefeated team in the NFC and coming off their early Week 4 bye, have been quite the chatter since getting off to a hot 3-0 start this season. And while some may question the quality of opponents San Francisco has played so far, this prime-time bout against an up-and-down Browns squad should say a lot about whether or not head coach Kyle Shanahan’s squad is for real in 2019.
On the surface, one can see why the 49ers are favored. Shanahan’s offense ranks in the top five, both in scoring and yards gained, while his defense has fought its way into a top-10 unit, too.
Cleveland, meanwhile, is in the middle of the pack for both sides of the ball and has played with notable inconsistency over the first quarter of the year. Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield is tied for the league lead in interceptions with six. Other players have underperformed, too.
All said, however, there are just as many reasons why the Niners lose this Week 5 bout.
No, Niner Noise isn’t trying to play the “Negative Nancy” role here. Instead, one should merely look at these four reasons why San Francisco comes away with a loss in Week 5 as a precautionary preview, essentially what Shanahan and Co. have to avoid if they want to continue their undefeated ways even deeper into the regular season.