Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports Pictured: San Francisco 49ers quarterback C.J. Beathard
- The San Francisco 49ers opened as 4-point home favorites against the Oakland Raiders on Thursday Night Football (8:20 p.m. ET on FOX).
- 49ers quarterback C.J. Beathard is active, but will not start. Third-string quarterback Nick Mullens is instead expected to start for San Francisco.
- With Mullens under center, both the point spread and over/under have plummeted across the betting market.
Before the start of the 2018-19 NFL season, a Derek Carr-Jimmy Garoppolo Week 9 matchup on Thursday Night Football seemed quite enticing. Now we’re unlikely to see even C.J. Beathard in action.
Beathard did not practice Tuesday and, according to 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan, had a hard time gripping a football. That’s quite problematic considering the short turnaround for a Thursday game.
After opening as a 4-point home favorite against Oakland, San Francisco dropped to -2.5 Wednesday afternoon after news of Beathard’s injury became public.
At 5:17 p.m. ET Thursday, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that Beathard would be active against the Raiders, but as the 49ers’ backup quarterback, paving the way for Nick Mullens to make his first career NFL start.
With Mullens expected under center, the line dropped to San Francisco -1, and even to a pick ’em at a handful of offshore sportsbooks.
The Raiders-49ers over/under has also been affected, dropping from an opener of 47 to 44.