The 49ers and Rams can play spoiler for each other with the NFL playoffs approaching. Cam DaSilva helps us preview the matchup.
The 49ers and Rams have had dramatically different paths to this point since their last meeting in Week 6 – a 20-7 49ers victory.
Los Angeles has had some up-and-down performances, especially lately, and finds themselves in position to miss the playoffs a year after making the Super Bowl.
To catch up on the 49ers’ division rival, we got in touch with our buddy Cam DaSilva of the Rams Wire to see exactly what’s going on with the Rams heading into Week 16.
Niners Wire: It looked like the Rams might be back. Then they got blown out 44-21 in Dallas and they were back to square one. What was the one key factor to the Rams’ dud in Dallas last week?
Tackling was a big issue. The Rams could not stop Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard as they both went off for 100-plus yards. The Cowboys’ offensive line was outstanding in the game, but the Rams did a poor job of tackling. Elliott and Pollard picked up valuable yards after contact and were breaking tackles left and right. Offensively, the wide receivers weren’t creating much separation for Jared Goff and when they did, Goff missed them. Goff was under pressure for a lot of the day, but he did not have a good performance at all.
NW: Is Todd Gurley still good or what?
There are times when he looks like himself, making good reads behind the line of scrimmage and bursting through holes. Then, as we saw on Sunday in Dallas, there are times when he can’t make defenders miss, looks slower after taking the handoff and struggles to create big plays. I think we can certainly say he’s not the player he once was, but he can still be effective if his offensive line sets him up well. He just doesn’t have the explosiveness he had before injuring his knee last season. There are no more hurdles, no more 50-yard runs. He’s more a product of the system now.
NW: You wrote that the Rams need to stop George Kittle on third downs. How do you think they try and do so?
I think they’ll try to use Taylor Rapp and an underneath cornerback like Nickell Robey-Coleman to bracket him – maybe a linebacker instead of Robey-Coleman at times. If the Rams really want to get crazy, they’ll use Jalen Ramsey on Kittle like the Jaguars did against Rob Gronkowski in the past. They couldn’t get it done with single-coverage in Week 6, and that was with John Johnson available. Now, a lot of the challenge falls on the rookie Rapp, who has been excellent this season but he hasn’t had to man-up a tight end like George Kittle.
NW: Do you foresee Jalen Ramsey shadowing any 49ers WRs?
I don’t think so. I just don’t see there being one wideout who poses enough of a threat to draw Ramsey’s coverage. You could argue putting Ramsey on Emmanuel Sanders, but with as much as Sanders plays inside, that’s not a great recipe for Ramsey. Instead, I think the Rams would be better off either using Ramsey on Kittle or leaving him on the left side of the defense.
NW: How do you see this one going, and what’s your final score prediction?
I think the 49ers are going to win it, but it’s not going to be a completely dominant performance by them this time around. The Rams defense is playing much better than it was in their first matchup, even as poorly as they played against the Cowboys on Sunday. The offense has the ability to put up points in bunches as we saw against Seattle and Arizona, but that’s predicated on them being able to run the ball and roll Goff out of the pocket consistently. I’ll say the final score will be 24-20, 49ers.
