The Rams and 49ers are coming into Sunday night’s matchup with completely opposite results. Los Angeles has won their last two games while the 49ers have dropped their past two. San Francisco’s record fell under .500 on the year.
The Rams are three-point road favorites with a moneyline of -158. San Francisco’s moneyline is +134, with the over/under set at 52 points the contest.
Coming Together
The Rams have only lost one game this season to the Buffalo Bills, but they look better every week. Their biggest issue early in the season was putting all three phases together for an entire game. The offense would shine but then get cold as soon as the defensive effort started improving.
This was a winning formula at first, but Buffalo showed the Rams that they wouldn’t succeed against solid competition. Los Angeles has the 4th ranked offense in the NFL and a defense that started slow but now in the top 10 after five weeks of action.
If the offense and defense can continue to mesh as we saw last week against the Washington Football Team, the Rams can make a deep run in the playoffs.
Desperate for a Win
San Francisco is sitting last place in the NFC West and hasn’t beaten a quality team all year. They’ve defeated the Giants and the Jets, who have started at a combined 0-10 record, so they are still searching for their first solid win of the season.
To get a win on Sunday night, they’ll need to be a lot better than they were against Miami. The 49ers defense gave up 436 yards of total offense and were unable to force a turnover. Jimmy Garoppolo left the game early after an awful performance because of his ankle, and his backup, CJ Beathard, didn’t play any better.
Garoppolo has said this week that his ankle is ready to go, so look for the offense to be a little more in sync on Sunday.
The Picks
This game will be won in the trenches on Sunday night. Garoppolo will be healthy, but all quarterbacks still need protection, and the 49ers have failed in this area all year long. Last week the 49ers offensive line gave up five sacks, and they’re facing a pass rush that is superior to the Dolphins this week.
Aaron Donald and the Rams’ top-ranked front seven got to Washington eight times last Sunday. The 49ers need to play with a lot more pride up front this week. The only way that the 49ers have a chance is if they give Garoppolo time to scan the field and lead his offense.
If the 49ers don’t win this week, they’ll dig themselves a pretty deep hole with New England, Seattle, Green Bay, and New Orleans coming up. I believe that the hole has already been dug and is waiting for them outside of Levi’s Stadium on Sunday night.
I’m taking the Rams -158 and over 52 points.
