2024 NFL picks, score predictions for Week 3

San Francisco 49ers (1-1) @ Los Angeles Rams (0-2)

Sunday, September 22, 4:25 PM ET

And here we have a matchup between two rather snake-bitten teams to start the 2024 season. But nobody is more snake-bitten than the poor Los Angeles Rams, who just continue to suffer blow after blow to their roster.

Already down Puka Nacua at the wide receiver position, the Rams lost Cooper Kupp in their Week 2 loss to the Arizona Cardinals, who were seemingly able to move the ball at will against the Rams’ defense as well. As much as it has hurt a team like the 49ers to not have Christian McCaffrey out there for their offense, they still have three other elite playmakers to work with.

The Rams have been absolutely gutted.

This is not a great situation for the Rams to be in with the 49ers coming off of a tough road loss. Now, they have a chance to come back against a familiar divisional opponent and get back on track while the Rams are still going to be relatively down bad.

You can see just how rough the Rams have it based on the fact that Vegas has the 49ers as 7.5-point road favorites, even though they are coming off of a pretty disturbing loss on the road against the Minnesota Vikings.

Obviously, the smart and safe bet feels like riding with the San Francisco 49ers, even though we’ve seen Sean McVay work some magic with patchwork units in the past. The losses of both Kupp and Nacua are probably a little too much to overcome, not to mention what the Rams are dealing with defensively right now.

This one has 31-17 written all over it.

Prediction: 49ers win 31-17