They met three times last season. First, on a Monday Night Football telecast in which the home underdog San Francisco 49ers drilled the Rams into the turf during a 31-10 frontal assault. Eight weeks later, the two teams met in Los Angeles, and the Rams burst to an early lead with the 49ers playoff hopes hanging in the balance.

A second half rally staged by Jimmy Garoppolo overcame a 17-3 halftime deficit and got the Niners even and forced overtime. San Francisco won the game and a playoff berth with a field goal in overtime for the 27-24 victory.

Three weeks later, the two teams met again in Los Angeles in the NFC Championship Game. This time, it was the Rams that staged a second half comeback that eliminated the 49ers, 20-17. Two weeks later, the Rams won their first ever Super Bowl title in Los Angeles. The franchise had won Super Bowl XXXIV while playing out of St. Louis, but this was the Rams first win while the team was headquartered in Los Angeles.

Since winning that Super Bowl, the Rams have been as suspect as an old engine on a cold morning. They became only the third team to lose in the 17 year history of the defending Super Bowl Champion opening the season in a Thursday night primetime telecast. Maybe Buffalo is the best team in football, they sure looked like it when they opened the season with a domination over the defending champs, 31-10.

Was that one-sided result all attributable to how good the Bills are, or are the Rams down a notch from the squad that won it all last season?

The Rams were “all in” on last year’s drive to the title. The preseason trade of draft picks and their starting quarterback to the Detroit Lions for Matthew Stafford mortgaged their future for the present. The organization needed to close the deal on a Super Bowl win now.

And they did.

And they did it against the 49ers in the NFC Championship Game before slipping by the Cincinnati Bengals in Super Bowl LVI.

On the other side of that success, what do the Rams have in store?

I’m betting that their opening loss was the first of many defeats for Sean McVay’s team this year. Still carrying the weight of being the defending champs the Rams have two early strikes against them tonight. First, the point spread based on talent and situation alone should have San Francisco favored by three or more points. Instead, the line is under a field goal. The second strike against Los Angeles in this one is that it was the 49ers that they beat in the playoffs last year which shifts the eye of the tiger motivation to the home team.

Strike three against the Rams is the 49ers are much more in need of this game, coming into tonight off a loss and looking to avoid a one and three start. The Rams have won two in a row, and that is as long of a winning streak that the Rams are going to get with the 49ers poised for a big effort.

To me, this one looks like a double-digit victory margin for San Francisco, but in case I am overly optimistic, let’s call it Niners by nine.

Qoxhi Picks: San Francisco 49ers (-2) over Los Angeles Rams