The divisional round certainly did not disappoint. Now the NFC stage is set with these two division rivals. Is the 7th time a charm for McVay and the Rams facing Shanahan’s Niners? Or does the domination continue…..
Current NFL Record: 152-109 +41.54 Units
Rams -3.5 (-105)
We know both of these defenses are very good and capable of making game changing plays. This game will be a chess match and a battle defensively, however there is always a liability that offsets these close match ups. For me Jimmy G is the liability. This is the NFL Playoffs and some how the Niners have gotten through the first 2 rounds with their QB not throwing a single TD. In fact the last 2 games Jimmy G has gone 27/44 303 yards 0 Tds 2 ints……woof. Clearly this is a team relying heavily on their defense. Usually that isn’t necessarily a bad thing at this stage of the season. However, Matt Stafford and the Rams have certainly found an offensive groove and are not shy about putting numbers on the board.
The most recent match up we saw the Rams took it to the Niners early going up 17-0. Rams got comfortable, let off the gas and ended up paying for it in the end. Kudos to the Niners for showing a lot of heart and battling back to edge that game out in OT to go on this unprecedented playoff run. That playoff run ends on Sunday. We know the story line here…. McVay just can not seem to figure out Shanahan with an 0-6 record all time against him with the Niners. Time to “right the ship” and win the most important game of all the match ups. This is the game where McVay puts it all on the line and opens up the playbook. I wouldn’t be surprised if we even saw some trick plays with Odell throwing passes like we would see with the Giants and Browns. He is all in here.
The Rams are a more complete team. Let’s just say for argument sake the defenses cancel each other out. It’s an offensive league and the Rams have the better offense by a mile. This post season their offensive production has almost doubled up on the Niners in every major category. Now yes the Niners had to play in the cold in a snow storm ….. but that snow wasn’t stopping Jimmy G from throwing it to the other team in the redzone. Niners got bailed out by a blocked punt plain and simple. They are lucky to be here. Rams sort out Akers fumbling issues from last week and this game isn’t even a contest. I know a lot of people think this will be close and love getting the Niners +3.5 with the hook in a FG type game. I think we are going to see what the Rams did in the first week 18 in that first half and keep the pedal to the floor the whole way through. For the second year in a row the home team hosts the Super Bowl. Rams -3.5.
