Special Preview- NFL, Week Four
Los Angeles Rams at San Francisco 49ers
Rams: After a shoddy week one effort against the Bills, the alarm bells started sounding in the City of Angels. Sean McVay’s squad found a way to win their next two, but it wasn’t pretty as they nearly lost a 28-3 lead to the Falcons of all teams and won a close divisional road game in the desert. A year after leading the Rams to a Super Bowl title in his first season as their starter, Matthew Stafford has more picks than touchdowns this year so far. He needs to do a better job of spreading the ball around as Cooper Kupp has been the team’s only consistent weapon, having scored four of their seven total offensive touchdowns. Defensively, Aaron Donald hasn’t missed a beat from last year, recording his 100th career sack last Sunday. Donald’s intimidating presence up front creates opportunities for all pro corner Jalen Ramsey, along with linebacker Bobby Wagner, who made the Pro Bowl every year since 2014 for Seattle before joining the division rival Rams upon his release. This star studded team will now travel north to the Bay Area to face a team they lost six straight regular season games to before defeating them in January to advance to the Super Bowl.
49ers: Just like in 2020, San Francisco is dealing with a ton of injuries following a deep playoff run. Only three weeks in, and they’ve already lost starting QB Trey Lance for the season, in addition to losing starting RB Elijah Mitchell and LT Trent Williams for significant amounts of time. The team’s offense simply couldn’t move the ball in Denver under the bright lights of Sunday Night Football, the most embarrassing moment of which was a Jimmy Garoppolo safety when he stepped out of the back of the end zone. Defensively, this team is a juggernaut: the defense has only allowed 28 points so far this season, with 19 of those coming in the first week. But its offense is going to need more production from playmakers like Deebo Samuel and George Kittle (as well as consistency from their old but new starting QB Jimmy Garoppolo) if they’re going to be a serious threat to win the division this year. Hosting the defending Super Bowl champs this week gives them a chance to not only turn their season around, but also move into first place since they’d be 2-0 against divisional opponents with a win.
Rams X Factor: Allen Robinson II– Remember how I said the Rams need a more diverse passing attack? The most logical answer to that problem lies in veteran wideout Allen Robinson II, who averaged nearly 1200 yards and 100 catches in 2019 and 2020 for Chicago. Prior to that, Robinson had a season in Jacksonville (2015) where he led the league with 14 receiving touchdowns, in addition to amassing a whopping 1400 yards. He may not be flashy anymore after eight seasons in the league, but he’s still a savvy veteran who has a long history of putting up impressive numbers as a WR1. If San Francisco locks down on Kupp, I expect Robinson to get a lot of open looks… and him stepping up and making some big plays like he did in his prime could be just the spark that Stafford and the Rams need to get back on track offensively.
49ers X-Factor: Talanoa Hufanga– Don’t look now but the Niners appear to have struck late round gold again, as the fifth rounder of USC is establishing himself as one of the top young safeties in the league in just his second season. He leads all defensive backs with nine run stops this year, and Hall of Fame safety Ronnie Lott has compared him to fellow Hall of Famer Troy Polamalu. That’s serious praise coming from one of the best to ever play the position. Lott noted his speed and anticipation of the game around him, which are both vital traits in a safety. If he can neutralize Kupp (a daunting task considering he led the league in yards, receptions, and touchdowns last year) it will go a long way towards shutting down the Rams’ passing attack.
Final Thoughts: The 49ers and Rams have one of the oldest rivalries in football, dating back to before the Giants and Dodgers moved west. The two most recent games between these teams did not disappoint, with the Niners winning the last game of the season by a field goal in OT to make the playoffs and the Rams winning the NFC Championship game by the same margin in regulation just three weeks later. When you have rivalries as intense as this one, tensions are bound to be high, so both sides will need to keep their cool and refrain from any late dirty hits or even worse a full on brawl like we saw in the Dome two weeks ago. In addition to getting more receivers involved in the passing game, the Rams also need to run the ball better if they want to win…. neither Cam Akers nor Darrell Henderson Jr. have really established themselves as the lead back so far, with each averaging well under 40 yards a game. A solid rushing attack will be key to wearing down the 49ers defensively. For the 49ers, head coach Kyle Shanahan needs to live up to his reputation as an offensive whiz and get more creative with the play calling… even his quarterback appeared to call him out for this in a viral NSFW clip. Plays such as jet sweeps, play action passes, and utilization of FB Kyle Juszczyk, for example, could stretch out the Rams’ defense and result in a much better offense than the one we saw last week. Finally, both teams are missing some pieces of their offensive line from last season, so protecting the QB will be a huge factor in deciding who wins, especially with how good each team’s front seven is.
Prediction: 49ers 21, Rams 20
