How can 49ers upset unbeaten Rams?
Mcvay says his team must respect San Francisco despite their losing record
SANTA CLARA – Nostalgia will swirl through Levi’s Stadium on Sunday, from the 49ers unveiling “The Catch” monument to honoring their last Super Bowl-winning team from the 1994 season.
Look for the all-white throwback jerseys. Look for 49ers icons from 1994 and other eras. Then look out for what this year’s team must face.
While that 1994 team may be the NFL’S last from California to hoist the Lombardi Trophy, the undefeated Los Angeles Rams (6-0) arrive as favorites to win this season’s Super Bowl.
“They’re undefeated right now but they’re not unbeatable,” left tackle Joe Staley said. “No one’s invincible. The ’72 Dolphins are the only team to do it. If we play the way we’re capable, we have all the confidence we can get the ‘W.’ ”
The 49ers (1-5) are on a four-game losing streak, and with Jimmy Garoppolo fresh off knee surgery, they’re the reason this matchup got flexed out of NBC’S prime-time slot and into a sun-splashed kickoff.
“I don’t care what their record says. This is a really, really good football team that has great, sound systems,” Rams coach Sean Mcvay said of the 49ers on a conference call with Bay Area media.
“They have tough, competitive players. There’s a level of detail and precision with how they operate in all three phases,” Mcvay added. “It’s going to be a phenomenal challenge for us.”
Whoa, whoa, whoa. No need to oversell a 49ers team that’s lost squarely on their lack of precision in all three phases, especially defense.
The Rams are looking for their first 7-0 start since 1985. Looking farther ahead, they could win the franchise’s first Super Bowl while based in Los Angeles; their lone title came from the 1999 St. Louis Rams.
Here are three areas the 49ers must thrive to upset the Rams and allow the 1972 Dolphins to again celebrate:
Sure, the 49ers have been competitive, like Mcvay says. But an obvious trend in the four-game losing streak is how things fall apart in the final minutes. To wit:
Week 3 at Kansas City Chiefs: Garoppolo sustains a season-ending knee injury with 5:27 remaining.
Week 4 at Los Angeles Chargers: C.J. Beathard sees safety Derwin James blitz too late and an interception ensues with 2:31 to go.
Week 5 vs. Arizona Cardinals: Beathard’s strip-sack fumble is returned for a Cardinals TD with 4:33 left, and Beathard follows by throwing an interception 45 seconds later.
Week 6 at Green Bay Packers: Beathard, in the face of an all-out blitz from the Packers 46, unloads a pass that is intercepted at the 10 with 1:07 remaining, enough time for Aaron Rodgers to produce a gamewinning drive in a 33-30 stunner.
“We’ve started slow, then throughout the game we’ll be doing really well, then we won’t finish well,” defensive tackle Deforest Buckner said. “We’ve got to play four quarters instead of just a half or three quarters of a game.”
Defensively, with only three takeaways and far more blown coverages, the 49ers obviously have room for improvement and anything would help to slow the Rams.
Offensively, the 49ers actually have routinely pulled off explosive plays, just not in crunch time. Their offense is averaging almost eight “big plays” per game, and they’ve hit on nine in three of their past four games. (A big play is a run of 10 yards or more or a pass of 20 yards or more.)
Running back Matt Breida has provided the most: 14 runs of at least 10 yards and delivering one such run every 4.5 carries. Breida’s ankle injury and thus cutback ability was impacted by Green Bay’s 33-degree wind chill, as he had only one run over 10 yards.
Tight end George Kittle and fullback Kyle Juszczyk have provided four apiece to make up for wide receivers’ lack of big plays, although Marquise Goodwin returned from injury last game and had 67- and 30yard touchdown receptions.
Mcvay said of Goodwin’s impact: “When you’ve got somebody that can take the top-shelf off the coverage, it opens up everything. … The most important thing is it gives you a dynamic playmaker that can create explosives.”