Undefeated 49ers Host Broncos in Week 4 as Experts Lean Toward San Francisco
The short version
- The 2-1 Broncos visit the 3-0 49ers on Sunday at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California.
- San Francisco is one of five unbeaten teams and is playing a third straight home game after opening the season in Australia.
- Denver has been outscored 40-10 in first halves and needed comebacks to beat Jacksonville and the Los Angeles Rams.
- Picks from CBS Sports, NFL.com, The Sporting News and the Arizona Republic all favor the 49ers, though two NFL.com writers chose Denver.
- San Francisco's Mike Evans (oblique) and Trent Williams (shoulder) are injury situations to monitor after Week 3.
Denver visits Levi's Stadium on Sunday seeking its third win, while NFL pundits largely back unbeaten San Francisco to stay perfect at home.
The NFL's Week 4 schedule brings a Sunday matchup between the Denver Broncos and the San Francisco 49ers at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California. San Francisco arrives at 3-0, one of only five teams still without a loss, while Denver comes in at 2-1 after a demanding opening stretch.
The Broncos head west on the strength of consecutive home comebacks, beating the Jacksonville Jaguars and then the Los Angeles Rams in a Sunday-night game in Week 3. The win over the Rams was the latest instance of Denver rescuing a game after a poor opening half.
Slow starts have become the team's signature problem: the Broncos have been outscored 40-10 in first halves through three games. Coach Sean Payton said this week that continuing to chase deficits would eventually cost Denver in bigger games, and a date with an unbeaten opponent qualifies.
For the hosts, Sunday marks a third straight game at Levi's Stadium, an unusual run of home dates for a club that began its season in Australia. The extended home stay has coincided with a 3-0 start built largely around quarterback Brock Purdy.
Pete Prisco of CBS Sports predicts a 28-21 San Francisco win and expects another big day from Purdy, who has guided the 49ers to their perfect record. Jeremy Cluff of the Arizona Republic also takes the 49ers, 33-27, writing that Bo Nix and the Denver offense found their form in the second half against the Rams but voicing doubt about a complete four-quarter performance.
Dan Parr of NFL.com chooses the 49ers as well, 28-26, saying he wants to see the Broncos put together a full game before backing a road upset of the team he views as arguably the NFL's best through three weeks. He describes both rosters as carrying legitimate Super Bowl hopes. Parr's NFL.com colleagues split, with Bobby Kownack and Brooke Cersosimo siding with San Francisco while Gennaro Filice and Jeremy Bergman went with Denver.
Bill Bender of The Sporting News forecasts a 27-24 San Francisco victory and highlights injury concerns from the 49ers' Week 3 meeting with Arizona, naming Mike Evans (oblique) and tackle Trent Williams (shoulder) as situations to monitor. Bender also points to a head-to-head between two of the league's leading tacklers, 49ers linebacker Fred Warner and Broncos linebacker Alex Singleton, and cites Denver's 2-5-1 record against the spread as a road underdog since last season against San Francisco's 6-1 straight-up mark over the same span.
A Denver victory would lift the Broncos to 3-1 against what Bill Bender calls a tough early-season slate. The case for the hosts, as framed by Broncos Wire, rests on Purdy operating at an elite level despite injuries that have again hit San Francisco's receiving corps, plus a strong coaching run from Kyle Shanahan stretching back to last season. That projection has the 49ers at 4-0 going into Week 5 for the first time since 2023.
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