Twitter reactions: 49ers view Rams as an opportunity to rebound

A little bulletin board material to kickoff Week 8

The rivalry between the Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers is currently one of the most intriguing in all of football. The NFC West divisional foes know each other well, and they don’t seem to care for each other much.

The head coaching careers of Sean McVay and Kyle Shanahan will forever be linked after the two coached in Washington together and then became head coaches at the same time in 2017. The duo then made huge swings to upgrade at quarterback after the 2020 season – the Rams by swapping Jared Goff for Matthew Stafford and the 49ers trading up to draft Trey Lance. LA won a Super Bowl in part because of Stafford’s contributions, but San Francisco is still waiting for their selection of Lance to pay dividends. The second-year QB was injured in the second game of the season and will not return until 2023.

Both teams expected to compete amongst the best in the NFC conference this season, but the early going has proved to be tougher than anticipated.

Are Rams a “get right game” for San Fran?

The 49ers were outpaced by the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 7 while the Rams used their bye week to nurse back to health. It’s all setting up for another all-important NFC West showdown.

A win for Los Angeles means a winning record at 4-3, and inversely they’d send the 49ers to 3-5. With the Seahawks at 4-3, San Francisco would be in danger of falling too far behind the top two teams.

But many fans in San Francisco see this matchup against the Rams as a “get right game”, and an opportunity to right the ship after a tough loss to KC.

The 49ers see Rams’ OL as blood in the water

When the Rams and 49ers met in Week 4, San Francisco’s pass rush proved insurmountable for Stafford and the LA passing attack. According to PFF, Stafford was pressured on 41% of his dropbacks in that game – and the 49ers sacked him 7 times.

And LA’s injury disaster along the offensive line have only gotten worse since that game. LT Joseph Noteboom is now out for the season – he’s replaced by Alaric Jackson. The Rams are expected to start Bobby Evans at LG and Oday Aboushi at RG. Fortunately, Brian Allen should return from an injury suffered in Week 1 to start at center.

On the McCaffrey trade and subsequent fallout…

Another link between these two rivals is their recent involvement in the Carolina Panthers’ trade of Christian McCaffrey to the 49ers, but the Rams reportedly drove up the asking price.

McCaffrey played a limited role against the Chiefs after the joined the team on Friday and is still acclimating to the playbook and offense. He expects to have a firmer grasp on both in order to play a full role against LA in Week 8. Here’s what fans are saying about the trade and its fallout: