Two NFC West rivals clash on Monday Night when the San Francisco 49ers look to get back on track with a win over the visiting Los Angeles Rams
Los Angeles Rams (2-1) at San Francisco 49ers (1-2)
Game Details:
- Location: Levi’s Stadium in San Francisco, CA
- Time: Monday, October 3rd at 8:15 p.m. ET
- Channel: ESPN
Betting Stats:
Preview:
This should be a hard-fought battle between two bitter rivals that feature two strong defensive units. There’s an added level of hostility since the last time these two teams met was the NFC Championship Game when the Rams came back from down 17-7 going into the fourth quarter to ultimately send themselves to the Super Bowl.
However, these are not the same impressive teams. Both of these teams are almost limping into their Monday night showdown.
The 49ers lost to the Broncos, and they were not impressive on offense. They gained just 81 yards in the second half, while fumbling twice, throwing an interception, and having Jimmy Garoppolo step out of the end zone for a safety. On top of that, San Francisco was an atrocious 1-for-10 on third down.
They’ll hope that having George Kittle back for a second week after missing the first two games due to injury will be a boost. Kittle had four catches for 28 yards last week but should be more integrated into the offense now that he’s further removed from injury.
Jeff Wilson Jr. has also been solid as a starter in place of Elijah Mitchell, running for 159 rushing yards over the last two games. However, he will find the running hard this week against the Rams especially since center Jake Brendel and guards Aaron Banks and Spencer Burford combined for just 11 snaps all last season. On top of that, All-Pro left tackle Trent Williams was injured against the Broncos and will miss several weeks.
The Rams should be positioned to capitalize on that with Aaron Donald and Bobby Wagner, but this defense is dead last in the NFL in pressure rate through three weeks and has just seven sacks.
On the other side of the ball, the 49ers rank third in the NFL by giving up just 12.3 points per game, while Los Angeles is averaging 20.3 points per game. After a poor start to the season, Matthew Stafford is starting to heat up. After throwing five interceptions in the first two games, he hit on 73% of his passes against Arizona, which could have been the wake-up call he needed. Five Rams receivers saw three or more targets last week, which can make them a difficult passing attack to stop.
However, they have been poor while running the ball, with just 72.3 yards per game. Cam Akers had 12 carries for 61 yards against the Cardinals, so Sean McVay will have to hope that will be a sign of increased effectiveness, but this has all the makings of a slow, grind-it-out affair.
Picks:
Player Props:
This feels like a gross game, so fire up those Kyle Jusczyk receiving yards when Jimmy G needs to dump it off. However, Handsome Jimmy has just not looked good so far this year, so I’m going to take the under on completions against a solid Rams defense. That also means I think the 49ers will try to run the ball a fair share, but Aaron Donald has a huge advantage inside, so give me the over on his tackles.
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