Meanwhile, NFL fans are split on whether the Packers will be able to cover against the 49ers.
It’s entirely reasonable for football fans to be a little bit discouraged when their team wins a game by the slimmest of margins over a team that they were expected to defeat soundly. That was what happened with the Green Bay Packers last Sunday, when they beat the Chicago Bears by the grace of Karl Brooks’ middle finger, which blocked a potential game-winning field goal and sent the Packers to 7-3 with a 20-19 victory.
Following that game, the confidence of Packers fans as measured by our weekly Reacts surveys took a slight dip. Last week, the rate at which fans reported that they were confident in the Packers’ direction was 80 percent. However, after the Bears game, that has dropped a few points, falling to 73 percent:
With the team’s recent proverbial boogeyman — the San Francisco 49ers — on deck this Sunday, it is reasonable for Packers fans to have a bit of trepidation. After all, the 49ers knocked Green Bay out of the playoffs in three of the last five years, including the Packers’ last two postseason appearances after the 2021 and 2023 seasons.
However, the Packers are favored this week, with the 49ers coming into Lambeau Field at just 5-5 and facing the possibility of missing several players for Sunday. Earlier this week, FanDuel had the line set at Packers -1.5, but since we asked NFL fans to predict the result, that spread has jumped to Packers -3 and could go up even more depending on the injury status of Brock Purdy, Nick Bosa, and Trent Williams.
Update: Yep, that happened. The 49ers ruled Purdy and Bosa out on Friday afternoon, and the line has moved to Packers -5.5.
Still, at midweek, NFL fans were split on whether the Packers would cover a 1.5-point spread, Just 53 percent of fans said yes, with 47% expecting the 49ers to cover:
Tune in on Sunday afternoon to see whether the growing spread is appropriate and if the Packers can earn a valuable win over their NFC rivals!