Will the Rams win in Santa Clara for the first time since 2018?

At the end of the fourth NFL game day, the remake of last year’s “NFC Championship Game” takes place. At the “Levi Stadium” in Santa Clara, the San Francisco 49ers welcome the Los Angeles Rams and the odds of the bookmakers see the home side slightly ahead. This is surprising as the Niners have only one win to their name and the reigning Super Bowl champions from Los Angeles have won two in a row.

The 49ers lost the “defensive battle” against the Denver Broncos last week and were only convincing on the defensive side for the entire game. The offense, in which veteran Jimmy Garoppolo had to take over again for injured playmaker Trey Lance, was almost permanently logged off.

The Rams, on the other hand, who were clearly put in their place by the Bills on the first day of play, celebrated victories against Atlanta and division rival Arizona in week two and three. Los Angeles is the only team in the NFC West division with a positive record (2-1) after three games.

San Francisco 49ers – Statistics & current form

The injury to Trey Lance in the week two game against the Seahawks naturally dominated the headlines in the Bay Area. However, it also kept coming up before the matchup against the Broncos that the 49ers could have a higher baseline with veteran playmaker Garoppolo. Because while the offense was a grab bag with Lance, it was clear from the start what the Niners offense would look like with the veteran.

Sand in the gears of the offense

The previous year, “JimmyG” led San Francisco to the National Football Conference finals, where they narrowly lost to the Rams. There was no major change in the offensive line, but there were far-reaching changes in the offensive line. The offensive line is supposed to protect the quarterback, but it has been doing a poor job of that lately. Four sacks, which Garoppolo had to take against Denver alone, show that his task is much more difficult this year.

This also led to the fact that the offence could hardly move the ball against Denver. On top of that, there were two turnovers. At the running back position, the absence of the injured Elijah Mitchell was also noticeable. At least tight end George Kittle was able to step in for the first time this season and had a direct impact as a pass receiver.

In the 49ers vs. Rams game, a prediction that the home side will have similar difficulty moving the ball offensively is anything but far-fetched. The Rams defence is playing at a similar level to the Broncos defence, against which the Niners managed a meagre ten points. As in previous years, the showpiece of the team from the Bay Area is its own defence, which is already top-3 in the entire league again.

Key Players:
QB: Jimmy Garoppolo
RB: Jeff Wilson
WR: Deebo Samuel
TE: George Kittle
K: Robbie Gould

Los Angeles Rams – Statistics & current form

After the disappointing loss in the season opener against the Bills, the Rams made amends in weeks two and three. In week one, not enough was going right on offence and quarterback Matthew Stafford had a bad match-up with three interceptions. Against the Falcons and the Cardinals, the result was in favour of the Rams, which means that the start of the season can be described as successful overall. All in all, however, it was still not convincing.

Searching for last year’s form

Los Angeles beat a much weaker Atlanta team by four points (31-27) before beating Arizona 20-12. They did not allow a single touchdown to the Glendale franchise in week three. That was, strictly speaking, the first really strong showing by the Rams defence, which continues to feature superstars Aaron Donald and Jaylen Ramsey.

The offense, however, is not yet functioning at the level it did last year. At that time, the signing of Odell Beckham Jr. opened up the offence and created space for other pass receivers. However, he suffered a serious injury in the Super Bowl. Allen Robinson was signed from Chicago to replace him, but his impact on the offence is not as great as OBJ’s was. The key pass receivers in the early games were consistently wide receiver Cooper Kupp and tight end Tyler Higbee.

Now Los Angeles will have to deal with a similarly strong defence as in week one, as Buffalo and San Francisco are league leaders in this category. Only ten points were scored by the LA offense against the Bills and that makes a low-scoring bet between the 49ers and Rams look attractive.

Key Players:
QB: Matthew Stafford
RB: Cam Akers
WR: Cooper Kupp
TE: Tyler Higbee
K: Matt Gay

San Francisco 49ers – Los Angeles Rams Head-to-head comparison / H2H record

Division duels are always special games and that also because of the long history. There have been 146 of them between the two teams so far and the series is almost even. The 49ers have won 75 of the duels, the Rams 68. The prediction that Los Angeles will be able to record their 69th win against the Niners is quite realistic due to the starting position.

Last season, the franchises met three times, including the NFC Championship Game. There, San Francisco conceded its first loss to the Rams after six consecutive victories. The last loss in the regular season dates back to 30.12.2018 and also in this season the 49ers lost for the last time at “Levi Stadium” against LA.

None of the last five games have been a true point-scoring spectacle, as both teams own and have always owned good defensive lines in recent years.

San Francisco 49ers – Los Angeles Rams Tip

We find it surprising that the bookmakers are giving the favourites role to the home side, as Kyle Shanahan’s team’s performance against the Broncos left some doubts, especially offensively. Los Angeles is definitely expected to win in Santa Clara and with the 49ers being underdogs against the Rams, the odds are extremely appealing.

Both offensive departments have struggled mightily against good defenses this season. On top of that, the two coaches know each other inside and out due to their frequent duels. That’s why our prediction is that neither team will score 25 points in the 49ers vs. Rams clash. The betting odds for this are 2.00.

The most important playmakers on the offensive side are Deeboo Samuel on the 49ers side and Cooper Kupp on the opposite side. Both can be expected to score at least one touchdown each, as they can be used in a very versatile way.