NFL Week 1 Against the Spread Picks: San Francisco 49ers vs. Green Bay Packers

San Francisco 49ers at Green Bay Packers
Sunday, 9/9/12, 4:25 PM EST, TV: FOX
Opening Point Spread: Green Bay -6.5
Current Betting Line: Green Bay -5
Opening Total: 45
Current Total: 46.5
Odds Courtesy of Bookmaker

Packers Steelers Super Bowl XLV Picks — The Green Bay Packers won all eight of their regular-season home games last year

San Francisco opens the 2012 regular season on the road after making a trip to the NFC Championship Game last year, which resulted in a 20-17 overtime loss to the New York Giants, who ultimately went on to capture the Super Bowl. “I think that feeling is still there,” commented 49ers quarterback Alex Smith about the disappointing of not making it to the big game. The franchise should be very happy about its seven-win improvement from the previous year under head coach Jim Harbaugh. San Francisco is 2-0 ATS as a road underdog of 3.5 to 7 points the last two years.

The 49ers have one of the best defenses in the league, finishing second in the league in allowing just 14.3 points per game a year ago. San Francisco surrendered just three rushing touchdowns, but that statistic doesn’t carry much weight in this matchup, considering its opponent throws the ball at will. The franchise must be respected in this spot due to tits 6-2 road record in 2011, which was tied for the second-best mark in all off football.

Green Bay kicks off its 94th season in team history and will look to bounce back after getting knocked out of the playoffs by the Giants after posting the league’s best regular season record at 15-1. “That was a very important game and you want to play your best, but we did not accomplish that,” stated Packers head coach Mike McCarthy. He is the only coach in franchise history to win five consecutive season openers, while also going 14-6 in the month of September during his tenure. Green Bay is 24-13 ATS over the last two seasons, while the “over” is 29-8 in those contests.

The Packers have won 13 straight regular-season contests at Lambeau Field, which includes last year’s perfect 8-0 mark. Green Bay eclipsed the franchise record for the most points scored in a season, putting up 560 points on the scoreboard, which was nearly 100 points more than the previous mark set in 2009 (461). Quarterback Aaron Rodgers is the star of the show, leading all players with a 122.5 passer rating, while ranking second behind Drew Brees (46) with 45 touchdown passes.