The last thing standing between Matthew Stafford and his first Super Bowl appearance is the San Francisco 49ers. For the Los Angeles Rams, this is a problem.
The Rams haven’t beaten their in-state NFC West rival since 2018. San Francisco is 6-0 against Los Angeles, sweeping the regular season home-and-home series in each of the last three years. The Niners’ dominance in that stretch has taken on several forms. They’ve won low-scoring affairs (20-7 in 2019) and shootouts (34-31 later that season). Most recently, San Francisco punched its playoff ticket by overcoming a 17-0 deficit in a Week 18 overtime win.
That leaves a difficult puzzle for Rams coach Sean McVay to decipher. Los Angeles is a 3.5-point favorite at home, but history suggests his team will fail to live up to those modest expectations. So what does he have to do to stop the surge of a Niners team that’s feasted on opponent’s miscues to rally to the NFC Championship game this winter?
