49ers vs. Chargers: Hot prop bets to watch for Sunday Night Football

Fresh off their bye week, the 49ers host the Chargers for a primetime showdown on Sunday Night Football, and we’ve got some prop bets you’ll want to explore.

The Los Angeles Chargers are a team the San Francisco 49ers should have no trouble beating.

For starters, the Niners are coming off a bye week and are getting a slew of players back from injuries, essentially making head coach Kyle Shanahan’s squad the healthiest it has been since Week 1.

On top of that, the Chargers’ No. 1 defensive weakness feeds right into what Shanahan and San Francisco’s offense wants to do the most: run the ball.

Los Angeles enters Week 10 with a league-worst 5.7 yards allowed per rush attempt, and the 49ers’ shiny new rushing toy, All-Pro running back Christian McCaffrey, has to be considered a massive X-factor to ensure the Niners offense stays on the field and keeps the Chargers’ own offense off of it.

Plus, with fellow All-Pro Deebo Samuel returning from a hamstring injury that forced him out of their last game prior to the bye week, the 49ers should have little trouble moving the ball on the ground against a bad Bolts run defense.

Perhaps this is why the Niners are seven-point home favorites for Sunday Night Football, according to the oddsmakers at FanDuel, but let’s take a look at some additional prop bets that betting fans won’t want to miss for Week 10.

49ers vs. Chargers: Week 10 prop bets for Sunday Night Football

The over/under for the game is 45.5, and while San Francisco was faced with some offensive challenges earlier this season, getting Samuel back and in tandem with McCaffrey could ultimately mean the game crests that threshold.

Unless the 49ers want a low-scoring game by running the ball, leaving bettors with a provocative decision.

What about other prop bets?

49ers vs. Chargers prop bet No. 4: Both teams won’t score 20 points (-190)

Yes, the betting odds are for one or both the Niners and Chargers to not make the 20-point threshold on Sunday.

For good reason, too. Prior to its Week 8 victory over the Los Angeles Rams, San Francisco was averaging a mere 20.7 points per game, but its defense had only given up two scores of 20-plus points in each week prior (Weeks 6 and 7), and the 49ers defense held the Rams to 14 points anyway.

Combined with the Niners wanting to control the clock, it’s likely Sunday’s contest winds up being a low-scoring affair, and one of those teams not getting to 20 points seems likely.

49ers vs. Chargers prop bet No. 3: Under on Niners points scored (-105)

Typically, run-first teams don’t tend to have high-flying offenses. And with San Francisco wanting to limit the damage Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert can do, it’s likely Shanahan relies heavily on McCaffrey and the ground game to wear down a suspect LA defense and keep Herbert off the field.

This probably means the 49ers won’t reach their over/under in total team points of 26.5. And while the betting-odds favorite is on the over at -115, looking at the under at -105 has to be pretty intriguing.

Simply put, Shanahan won’t care if the Niners win 21-17.

49ers vs. Chargers prop bet No. 2: Niners field goal the opening score (+320)

It doesn’t seem like a rational bet unless one favors San Francisco’s opening score to be a field goal by kicker Robbie Gould.

But there’s some merit to this. The Bolts’ red-zone defense is actually somewhat good here, allowing opposing offenses to convert these appearances into touchdowns just 53.6 percent of the time, which ranks 12th best entering Week 10.

Shanahan’s offenses have historically struggled to find paydirt on opening drives, so don’t be shocked if the 49ers’ first score comes by way of a field goal.

49ers vs. Chargers prop bet No. 1: Christian McCaffrey gets 1 receiving TD, 1 rushing TD (+550)

OK, so fans have to recall how McCaffrey achieved the holy trifecta of touchdowns in Week 8 against the Rams, rushing in a score while adding another in the receiving game, then actually passing a touchdown, too, marking the first time that had happened in an NFL game since 2005.

Well, the odds of that happening again are probably slim to none, given there’s a gap of 17 years between occurrences.

However, looking at McCaffrey to net two of the trio of touchdowns is certainly provocative enough.

Especially with Los Angeles so prone to defending against running backs.

The Niners and Chargers kick off Sunday Night Football on Nov. 13 at 8:20 p.m. ET from Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California.

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.