LA Rams vs San Francisco 49ers: Divisional clash

Rams trailing

After opening the season with 3 consecutive wins, Rams surprisingly found themselves in a very tough situation a couple of weeks later. First, there was that surprising loss to the Buccaneers at home, when they allowed 55 points to the opposing offense and turned the ball over numerous times. But I suspected that they were caught looking ahead to their TNF matchup at Seattle. They did play a lot better vs the Seahawks, but lost the game after one of the best kickers in the game - Greg Zuerlein missed a kick inside 45 yards "at the buzzer".

With 3-2, they are sitting in 3rd place of a very competitive NFC West division, behind Seattle (4-1) and the undefeated San Francisco 49ers (4-0). They cannot afford to lose another one inside the division and watch the Niners running away with it. But in order to do that, they will have to overcome a couple of important absences in their lineup. They will miss guys like Todd Gurley, Clay Matthews, and Aquib Talib today. Their leading rusher, best pass rusher and arguably best corner.

Rushing attack hurt by injuries

Niners are dealing with some of their own problems as well. Joe Staley, Mike McGlinchey, Kyle Jusczyk and Akhello Whiterspoon all out. While George Kittle will give it a shot, but his groin injury will definitely limit him in one way or another, either being on a snap count or not being as explosive as usual.

San Francisco has the best rushing offense in the league and it's not even close. They completely dominated the Browns on a MNF with the help of it. Rams run defense is one of the worst in the league, so that is obviously a plus matchup for the 49ers. But, some of those injured players are key to their success on the ground. Kyle Shanahan's scheme depends a lot on the ability of his tackles to be mobile and make some key blocks. The type of players that he wants there it's actually so specific, that he traded away Trent Brown (one of the best tackles in the game), who simply wasn't a great fit for the scheme. Do they have backups that they can plug right in for Staley and McGlinchey? We'll see... But it would be unrealistic to expect that injuries of Staley, McGlinchey, Jusczyk and Kittle will not hurt their ability to run the ball.

Rams vs Niners best bet

Not getting the usual production from the running game, Garoppolo will be asked to do more. And I'm not sure that he can deliver. He is quite inconsistent and the way he plays, a disaster is waiting to happen. He can make some spectacular throws, but will also make many ill-advised decisions that will result in turnovers and hurt his team. Divisional games are especially dangerous, because the opposing defenses know his weaknesses and will try to lure him into some bad throws. And there is a bunch of ball-hawks in that Rams secondary, like Peters, Johnson, and Weddle.