The NFC West looks like a brutal division, and for the second week in a row, two of its teams duke it out on the national stage. Week 5’s edition of Thursday Night Football sees the San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Rams battle at SoFi Stadium. With the visitors depleted on offense, Mac Jones and his teammates face an uphill battle to down their rivals. Can he rise to the occasion?
Check out the best Mac Jones prop bets for 49ers at Rams on Thursday Night Football in Week 5.
Best Mac Jones prop bets on DraftKings Sportsbook
Well, the situation sure looks bleak for the 49ers this week, doesn’t it? Backup quarterback Mac Jones now retakes the starting spot for the third time in four weeks as Brock Purdy won’t play due to a toe injury. Now, writing the Niners off for that reason doesn’t feel safe since Jones led the team to two wins over the New Orleans Saints and Arizona Cardinals the first two times he took over under center. However, this battle remains far more difficult, especially with Ricky Pearsall (knee) and Jauan Jennings (ankle, rib) both out while George Kittle (hamstring) remains sidelined on IR.
That means that on Thursday Night Football, Demarcus Robinson and recent signing Kendrick Bourne serve as the top two wideouts and Jake Tonges remains the starter at tight end. Even with Christian McCaffrey still healthy at halfback, the lack of weapons still feels like a brutal beat for a 49ers team heading into a crucial NFC West matchup against a rival. Not only does the game carry additional stakes from that angle, but the competition is still as the Rams boast a top-10 pass defense in terms of yardage and touchdowns allowed through the air. Plus, the Los Angeles pass rush remains incredibly fierce with Jared Verse coming off the edge.
The combination of all these factors turns San Francisco into a serious fade on Thursday Night Football. A road matchup against a division rival with a formidable defense is enough of a challenge to begin with, but the lack of starting-caliber weapons for the 49ers only makes life even harder. Jones’ performance as the starter has been quite solid over his two appearances with 563 yards and four touchdowns to just one interception. He’s also completed 66.7% of his passes with a 98.1 passer rating, so it’s not that he can’t perform in a starting capacity.
However, he connected with Pearsall on some huge throws over those two starts and the young talent won’t be healthy, and neither will Jennings, either. Replacement-level talent at basically every pass-catching position doesn’t set Jones up for success, and the defense keep him running while honing in on McCaffrey all night both on the ground and through the air. That results in a predictable offense the Rams should have no problems stopping, so under 214.5 passing yards makes some sense as a prop bet on Jones.
