Week 3 NFL Picks: Can Packers overcome being a road underdog at San Francisco?

Wouldn’t it be nice if the Green Bay Packers got to play the San Francisco 49ers at home for a change? This Sunday night, the two teams will meet for the fourth time since the start of the 2019 season, and all four of those games have taken place at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara.

Trips to California were rough on Matt LaFleur’s team in 2019, his first season at the helm. The Packers went 0-3 there that year, including two losses to the 49ers, before finally beating a depleted San Francisco team midway through last season. But this year, LaFleur and company get their first trip to the West Coast early in this week three matchup with old friend Kyle Shanahan.

As of the time of publishing of this post, the Packers are three-point underdogs in this game. The 49ers enter week three at 2-0, but they nearly allowed the Detroit Lions to come back against them in week one before pulling out an ugly 17-11 victory against the Philadelphia Eagles last Sunday. The Packers are coming off a 35-17 victory over Detroit last week which saw them dominate the second half in a performance more befitting of the team’s preseason expectations than their week one debacle.

So will the Packers overcome their West Coast blues and find a way to win as a road underdog? Or will Shanahan and the 49ers run roughshod over Green Bay’s still-questionable defense, even despite fielding mostly unknown names running back due to injuries? Check out the picks from APC’s contributors below and give us your predictions below.