San Francisco 49ers vs Los Angeles Rams: Do or die

Getting stronger and stronger

Although it's still pretty early in the season, this game is very important in the NFC West division. The San Francisco 49ers were in the Superbowl last year, but because of many injury problems this year, they started poorly and are currently sitting in the last place with 2-3 record. Even bigger problem for them is that their biggest rivals are playing really well. Seattle is still undefeated (5-0), while the Rams started the season with a 4-1 record. The 49ers simply cannot afford to lose this game. They need to close this gap and give themselves a realistic chance to pursue one of the playoff spots.

Luckily for them, they are getting healthier lately. They got back George Kittle, Raheem Mostert and Jimmy Garoppolo. Mostert and Kittle will be key players in attacking the Rams mediocre run defense. They still have some issues on the other side of the ball. Couple of men missing in the secondary, alongside their two best pass rushers - Dee Ford and Nick Bosa. They are getting Emmanuel Moseley back, which will make their secondary much more stable.

Where they tested?

Part of Rams early-season success is avoiding setbacks with injuries. They don't have any notable players on the IR list and looking at this week's injury report, they can't complain about it. Andrew Whitworth and Aaron Donald were on there, but they seem to be ready to go for this divisional encounter. Rams are definitely fired up for this one. First of all, with another win, they would probably knock a big contender out of the race for the division. And second of all, the Niners owned this series last year, winning both H2H match-ups.

There are some questions regarding Rams strength of schedule so far. They faced only one team with a winning record and all their opponents combined, currently hold a record 8-16-1. They looked bad vs the Bills (only winning record opponent), until late in the game, when they tried to make a comeback. 49ers are no pushovers and with key players returning, they could potentially be very dangerous.

49ers vs Rams betting tips

That is why I think that getting a full FG at home is a bit too much. Kyle Shanahan will draw up some nasty running plays that will play directly into Rams' defensive weakness. Something that haunts them ever since Sean McVay took over as a head coach a couple years ago. It will be a challenge to stop Jared Goff & co., but I think they can do it with Moseley back in the lineup.

I'll go with another two player prop bets. Raheem Mostert over 91.5 rushing&receiving yards and George Kittle over 65.5 receiving yards. It's a plus matchup for Mostert. Strong rush offense vs poor run defense. He'll get the carries and he is always a threat to take it to the house. Whether with a carry, or a catch after a screen-pass. Because of those screen big plays possibility, I don't want to miss out on one of those, which is why I decided to go with rush&receiving line, rather than rushing only. George Kittle is the best tight end in the game. If you throw it to him, he'll catch it, no matter how much attention defense is putting on him. Garoppolo loves to throw to him. And getting Kittle involved will be key, if they want to win this one.

Also, don't forget to check out our new feature for comparing outright odds. These two opponents are both part of the NFC West division. Odds for winning it can be found with this link: https://theplayer.com/odds/american-football/usa/nfl/nfl-nfc-division-west-winner-reg-season