The San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Rams meet in a Week 16 matchup of two teams playing out the string. The 49ers can just about clinch the No. 2 pick with a loss. The Rams first round pick belongs to the Titans in the Jared Goff trade, so they’re just looking to get to their next head coach.
And with all that, it’s time once again for some blog predictions. This week, we spoke with Sean Wilkinson from Turf Show Times. We picked fairly opposite scores, and given the state of both teams, almost anything could happen and I would not be surprised. OK, I would be surprised by a 35-31 type shootout, but otherwise, nothing would surprise me. Not even a tie.
Sean Wilkinson, Turf Show Times: 49ers 20 - Rams 13
To say that both teams are struggling would be a severe understatement. The 49ers have lost 13 straight since stomping the Rams 28-0 in Week 1, while the Rams have lost 9 of 10 in a thoroughly uncompetitive fashion. If the Rams held their first round pick, this game would be much more compelling for all the wrong reasons.
That said, there is still football to be played Saturday. If you go by the Rams recent performances, it's tough to pick them to win. If it was anyone other than the 49ers (OK maybe the Browns too), I'd be predicting another blowout loss for the Rams. They just haven't shown me that they can be competitive with anyone in the second half of the season.
Aside from letting Mark Ingram run rampant, the Rams rush defense has held up relatively well the past few weeks. The issue has been the pass defense - who haven't been able to keep much of anyone in check lately. Even with a beat up group of receivers, I think that the 49ers will be able to take advantage and exploit Rams secondary that is pretty beat up.
As for the Rams offense, counting on them to score more than 15 points at this juncture seems foolish.
Fooch, NN: Rams 27, 49ers 17
The 49ers are an underdog, and have failed to cover in all but two games this season. No NFL team in the past 25 years has failed to cover in at least three games. So, either the 49ers are due, or they are historically bad. Betting on someone being due is a sure-fire way to lose money, so I am inclined to go with what the team's past 13 games have shown us. They are not the team that shut down the Rams in Week 1. They have too many issues, and that has only been complicated by injuries. They lacked significant depth before the injuries, and they are now just that much worse off.
Could the 49ers spring an upset? Sure. There's the any given Sunday mantra, and it's not like the Rams are a particularly good team. The key is how the 49ers deal with the Rams defensive front. Carlos Hyde has been the 49ers most effective offensive weapon. How he deals with a still formidable Rams front seven will likely be the difference-maker in this one. The 49ers could still lose, but it will be a tight competitive affair if Hyde can make things happen on the ground.
I think we all really just deserve a tie, but I think we see a moderate shootout in this one. I'll go with something like Rams 27 49ers 17. That puts this game past the OVER, and that's a shootout in my books for two teams like this.