If one was just looking at the numbers between these two National Football League division rivals a person might assume we are talking about one team that is clearly among the league’s best against a bottom-feeder. One team has beaten their division opponent seven straight times in the regular season and has a point spread record of seven wins against a single point spread loss in their last eight meetings.
But, we are not talking about teams that are haves and have nots, but rather two top tier squads that simply show one team has the other squads number. The teams we are talking about are the defending Super Bowl Champion Los Angeles Rams and the San Francisco 49ers.
Few things make sense in this California rivalry and how to explain that San Francisco has beaten Los Angeles in seven straight regular season games. It becomes even more confounding when realizing that the Rams were point spread favorites in five of those contests. Last year, after the 49ers downed Los Angeles twice during the regular season, the Rams were favored again when the two teams squared off in the NFC Championship Game.
The Rams won, two weeks prior to downing the Cincinnati Bengals in last season’s Super Bowl, but didn’t cover the 3½ point line while registering a victory decided by a field goal, 20-17.
Does this mean we can simply put on blinders and take the 49ers in a game against their state rivals?
Not necessarily.
And maybe not this Sunday when the two tangle at SoFi Stadium.
In defense of their Super Bowl title the Rams have had a lot of trouble. They became only the third defending champ to lose at home in the Thursday night season opener. A tradition that began in 2004. Their struggles have opened the door for a surprise leader in the NFC West Division race as we close in on the midpoint of the 2022 season, the Seattle Seahawks.
The Seahawks were supposed to be in the beginning stages of a rebuilding period in the wake of trading future Hall of Fame inductee Russell Wilson to the Denver Broncos for a bevy of high draft choices and a few marginal athletes. But, instead of falling back during this “rebuilding” project, Pete Carroll has his Seattle squad on top of the NFC West standings with four wins in seven decisions.
The Rams and 49ers both have three wins, a feat accomplished by Los Angeles in six games, they had their bye last week, while San Francisco comes to LA with a losing 3-4 mark. The Rams offense has struggled this year. Matthew Stafford has been sacked 22 times, in the National Football Conference only the Washington Commanders have allowed more, 24. The Rams defense has also been a mere shadow of the unit that guided the Rams to the top of the football world last season. In their sx games this season the Rams have only sacked opposing quarterbacks 12 times.
No team in football has scored less points that the 104 tallied by Los Angeles this season.
San Francisco has also stumbled this season and come to LA with that losing mark. The 49ers lost their opener in Chicago to a suspect Bears team and lost games the past two Sundays to the Atlanta Falcons and Kansas City Chiefs.
In other words, the reason the Seahawks have sprinted to the top of the NFC West standings is because the two heavyweights in this division, the Rams and 49ers, are struggling without a winning record.
Where does that leave us this week when the 49ers visit Los Angeles without one of their most dynamic offensive weapons? Deebo Samuel is sidelined with an injured hamstring.
This is where it leaves us, with a 49ers defense that is among the best in football and coming off a humbling performance in last week’s loss to the Chiefs, 44-23. And a Rams team that struggled at home to notch a win over the Carolina Panthers in their contest two weeks ago before enjoying their open date.
Did the time off help the Rams regroup to get back into serious contention to defend their Super Bowl title or does last week’s shellacking put the 49ers in the right mindset to continue their dominance over their division rival?
No need to get fancy here, put your blinders on.
Qoxhi Picks: San Francisco 49ers (pk) over Los Angeles Rams