Bright Lights, Tight Spot

Our first game on the slate of Week 15 is going to be a doozy. An important divisional matchup between two teams in a tightly contested division. The Rams are one game behind the Seattle Seahawks, while the 49ers are two games behind. This game will be extremely important in their respective playoff races, but more important for San Francisco. Here’s why. Shortly, if the 49ers lose, their playoff hopes are finished. The Niners, who sit last in the NFC West and have a record of 6-7, are brawling for a wildcard spot. They’ve had a considerably shaky season, infiltrated by injuries and have been generally underperforming. Last week, they had a phenomenal game against the Chicago Bears and looked like the dominant Niners of late. But they’re 1-3 in their division, and as stated, they are last in their division. They are going to need to win every game to have a chance of making the playoffs, and this divisional game is going to be the start of that potential run. Looking ahead at their schedule, they have the Dolphins at home, the Lions away, and then the Cardinals at home. The 49ers are going to have to find that mix of ease and production their offense is used to having if they want any chance at taking another shot at a Super Bowl this season.

The Rams are going to have something to say about that though. After knocking off Josh Allen and the red-hot Bills in an absolute gunfight, the Rams have now won three of the last four games, only losing to the Eagles by a FG. They are breathing right down Seattle’s neck in the division, but they need to put some distance between themselves and the bottom half teams in their division, the Cardinals and 49ers. The Rams will look to spread the ball to their variety of weapons and run the score up, as they typically try and do. But this week, they are facing a much better defense in the 49ers than they did in the Bills last week. The Niners allow the third lowest passing yards in the league at 182 yards, and most certainly will try and slow down Matthew Stafford, Puca Nacua, Cooper Kupp, Kyren Williams, and their whole band of playmakers, who had 457 yards of total offense last week. Another toss-up game, may the better team win.

POSTGAME:

Well, no one was producing or scoring this game. I mean, first touchdown-less game all season. It was a sloppy game, kind of a bad watch even. There were 11 punts, and it was 3-3 by the end of the first half. There were some chunk plays from the Rams here and there; Nacua had a 51-yard reception and Parkinson had 14 on a nice catch. But neither team really had anything. The Rams would ultimately win 12-6, but it was not a game to be proud of. The Niners have regressed and are most likely now out of the playoffs, and while they are not mathematically eliminated, they would need a miracle to make it. No one from San Francisco on Thursday night played well. Not many people from the Rams played well, but they got the win and that’s all that matters. They remain just behind Seattle, as the Niners likely fall out.