San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Sporting Green: 49ers can’t play in stadium.
Immediate challenge: Goffled Rams offense will provide test in L.A.
Moments after the 49ers beat the Rams in October, head coach Kyle Shanahan noted the victory was like the defensiveled triumph they’d enjoyed against their NFC West rival 12 months earlier.
“That game reminded me of exactly how it was last year down in L.A.,” Shanahan said to his players, via a lockerroom video on 49ers.com. “We held them the whole game.”
Indeed, the 49ers beat the Rams 207 on the road last year while limiting Los Angeles to season lows in points, first downs (10) and total yards (157). This season, in their 2416 win at Levi’s Stadium, the 49ers held the NFL’s sixthranked offense to its fewest points and secondfewest first downs (17) and yards (311)
“Both opponents know each other very, very well. ... It’s always a grind.” Robert Saleh, 49ers defensive coordinator, on the Rams
this season despite playing without five seasonopening defensive starters.
Those two wins prompted a question to inside linebacker Fred Warner this week as the 49ers readied to visit the Rams on Sunday: Are the 49ers, whose offense is similar to the system run by Los Angeles head coach Sean McVay, on to the Rams’ highpowered attack?
“Are you trying to put words in my mouth, man?” Warner said, laughing. “What are you asking?”
Say this: If the 49ers stymie McVay’s potent offense for the third time in 13 months Sunday, many people will be talking about how they must have access to Los Angeles’ playbook.
McVay, after all, is a Shanahan disciple who spent four seasons working under him when Shanahan was Washington’s offensive coordinator from 201013.
That gives both defenses a level of familiarity with the opposing offense. However, 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh attributed the recent success against the Rams to the typical familiarity division opponents develop. Sunday will mark the sixth time Saleh has gameplanned for McVay’s offense since 2017.
“You get enough reps against a certain player, you know how they play,” Saleh said. “But these division games are always tight. They’re always tough — both opponents know each other very, very well. And I just feel like it’s always a grind.”
Still, considering the direction each team is headed, something beyond Saleh’s explanation will presumably be at play if the 49ers put the wraps on the Rams again.
Consider: Los Angeles (73) will arrive after a dominant road performance against the NFL’s sixthranked defense. Quarterback Jared Goff threw for 376 yards and had 39 completions, the second most of his 64start career, in a 2724 win over Tampa Bay on Monday.
His favorite targets were wide receivers Robert Woods and Cooper Kupp, who became the fourth pair of teammates in the past 70 years to have 11plus catches and 130plus receiving yards in the same game.
Meanwhile, the 49ers (46) have allowed an average of 32.7 points during their threegame losing streak and could again face the Rams without at least five seasonopening starters on defense.
A lack of linebackers could be one of their issues. Warner was the only linebacker on their active roster who was available to practice on Thursday or Friday because Demetrius FlanniganFowles (hamstring) is out and Dre Greenlaw and Azeez AlShaair had to quarantine because of non-COVID19 illnesses. Both players, who have to be asymptomatic in order to play, are questionable for the game.
The 49ers finished the week with Warner, strong safety Marcell Harris and practice-squadder Jonas Griffith, an undrafted rookie, playing linebacker. However, Griffith wasn’t moved from the practice squad Saturday, which suggests Greenlaw and AlShaair will be available.
The 49ers were also shorthanded in October when Goff had the fifthlowest completion percentage (50.0) of his career and his secondlowest passer rating (72.0) of the season. Among the areas the Rams couldn’t exploit: Kupp, who often matched up against backup slot corner Jamar Taylor, had three catches for 11 yards.
Taylor, 30, an eightyear veteran who also faced the Rams last year as a member of the Seahawks, expects McVay to unveil a new wrinkle in response to the October loss.
Last season, in the Rams’ 3431 loss to the 49ers in December, they had far more offensive success. That was partly because Goff, who is not known for his mobility, often rolled out of the pocket. “You never know what McVay is cooking up,” Taylor said. “I think he’s one of the top offensive (playcallers) in the game, right along with Kyle. Those guys are masterminds. So you never know what you’re going to get.”