The San Francisco 49ers (2-5, fourth in NFC West) head to Edward Jones Dome on Sunday, the first of November, to take on the St. Louis Rams (3-3, second in NFC West) for a 1:00 PM kickoff (ET).
St. Louis is coming off a 24-6 win over the Cleveland Browns at home last week, while the Niners come in with some extra rest after a demoralizing 20-3 home defeat to the Seattle Seahawks last Thursday.
This game marks one of two instances this year in which the Rams will wear their throwback blue-and-yellow uniforms. With a win, St. Louis will improve to over .500 for the first time this far into a season since 2006.
Headlines
Todd Gurley’s Dominance
Rams running back Todd Gurley has been on a tear the last three games, rushing for 147, 159, and 128 yards in that order; Gurley also put up two touchdowns. Look for another big performance from Gurley on Sunday, as the 49ers rank 20th in rushing yards allowed and 24th in rushing touchdowns allowed.
Battle Between Struggling Offenses
The Rams and 49ers are at the bottom of the NFL in total points scored and points per game. The Rams are 31st with 108 points-scored with an average of 18.0 points per game while the 49ers are 32nd with 103 total points scored and an average of 14.7 points per game.
Both offenses have struggled but as previously mentioned, the Rams offense is coming along with the emergence of the rookie Gurley. Colin Kaepernick and the Niners offense will be going up against a Rams defense which stands as of the best in the league and leads the NFL in redzone defense. Opponents score touchdowns only 33.3 percent of the time they enter St. Louis' redzone.
Rivalry Week
The posts have been all over the Rams and 49ers’ social media accounts this week; it’s rivalry week. These two teams hate each other and always tend to bring out the best in each other (see the two overtime games in 2013 or the incredible goal line stand by the Rams to beat the Niners 13-10 in San Fran last year). The games between these two teams are usually a defensive battle. Look for that again on Sunday. It'll be a good one.
Rams Looking To Continue Divisional Dominance
If the Rams are able to win Sunday (they are favored to win by 8 points by Vegas), they become 3-0 in division play this season. They defeated the Seahawks 34-31 in Week 1 at home and the Arizona Cardinals 24-22 on the road in Week 4.
Prediction
The Rams defense shuts down the 49ers defense and Todd Gurley impresses once again, he will likely rush for over 100 yards for the fourth straight game and find paydirt once, if twice or three times.