N4L Posted December 25, 2018 Share Posted December 25, 2018 The Niners are winless on the road this year Thereare some major ramifications of this game (pun intended) The Rams need to win to secure a first round bye (or a bears loss). With Todd gurley being injured with a likely MCL sprain, they could really use the extra week off. I am speculating about his knee and the specific injury, but from my understanding the MCL helps you move laterally, and the last time he played he chose to run straight in bounds instead of cutting right and stopping the clock. It cost the Rams a game. He's been so time conciencious that it's the only thing that makes sense to me. MCLs can take 3-4 weeks and so that would put him back for the divisional round, but maybe not for the wildcard game that would be against Philly or Minnesota. So from that standpoint, it would be very bad for the Rams to lose and have the bears win. They would be literally limping into the playoffs losing three of their last four games. As it stands, the niners are teedering on the edge of the #2 and #3 overall picks. A loss keeps them there, a win would drop us to 5/6 and maybe farther The niners have an opportunity to simultaneously make 90% of both teams fanbases disappointed with a win. That's about the GRINCHIEST thing I can think of if a team wanted to play spoiler. That's going to be the mindset of our players this week. FFFF the draft, let's go spoil the party in LA. One of the reasons I was so confident that the niners would beat the Seahawks was that I knew getting blown out a few weeks before would do two things: get us pissed off and get them complacent. I feel the same way about this week. It's not that the Rams will look past us with so much on the line, but that it's human nature to fight extra hard when no one thinks you have a shot, and also to ease off the gas pedal when everyone pats you on the back. I laid out the gameplan to beat them a few weeks ago. It mainly consisted of getting pressure on goff and just playing man coverage/spying gurley to not let him kill you with screens and dumpoffs. With gurley highly doubtful in this game, I think it makes it much easier to defend them. Getting pressure is very important. Goff simply isn't the same guy when he is pressured, the bears and Philly games were clear evidence of that. Gurley is great in pass protection, and also the screens to him made it very hard to blitz. Without him, we should be able to blitz A LOT more, which will hopefully make Goff have to move off of his spot. He's a very young QB who is still learning and getting better. He isn't Peyton in his prime just yet. I've also seen mcvay make some questionable time management decisions against the eagles, so I am unsure about his ability to manage a game when the Rams don't have the lead. I just don't think he's been in that position all that much. It's been all sunshine and rainbows since he stepped of the plane in LA, they haven't had any true adversity yet. Let's give them some! This Rams team is beatable right now. They aren't the same juggernaut they were when they smacked us at Levi's. No breida this week most likely which is a shame. He is awesome and our run game isnt the same without someone who can get turn the corner with their speed. No Pettis obviously either. Kyle is going to have manufacturer some points this week. He has a very good track record against wade Phillips sans our first meeting where CJ had a terrible game. We need to feed kittle the ball early and often. The way to beat Donald is the same way to beat Suh, you trap him. Donald wants to get up the field and make splash plays, he takes a free release as an opportunity to go after the ball, so he is suseptible to this type of play more often than not. Our defense seemed to go after the ball a lot last week, and we FINALLY won the turnover battle (pretty sure that was the first time all year, had to have been considering we had 5 takeaways going into last week) and it will take more of the same to win this week. Our defense has played so so so much better and I expect that to continue Again, we havent won a road game this year. That is crazy to me. We are absolutely due for a road win, and the fact this game is in California rather than Missouri only helps our chances. As someone who lived in LA, I know there is a HUGE 49er following down there, so I anticipate a lot of red and gold in the crowd just like the past two seasons, hopefully that makes us feel right at home Personally, the only way I'll be upset with the outcome of this game is if we win and the bears lose. That would be the absolute worst case scenario as we drop in the draft and they still get their bye week. THE GRINCH WEARS RED Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
757-NINER Posted December 25, 2018 Share Posted December 25, 2018 I don't care what anybody says...beating the Rams and sending them on the road in the playoffs and w/o a bye would make my day. Idgaf about draft picks. I'd love to end the season with a win and for us to play the spoiler. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
y2lamanaki Posted December 25, 2018 Share Posted December 25, 2018 1 hour ago, 757-NINER said: I don't care what anybody says...beating the Rams and sending them on the road in the playoffs and w/o a bye would make my day. Idgaf about draft picks. I'd love to end the season with a win and for us to play the spoiler. Same here. I trust we will find what we need this draft, regardless of where we end up picking. I want to see young guys beat a playoff team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forge Posted December 25, 2018 Share Posted December 25, 2018 1 hour ago, 757-NINER said: I don't care what anybody says...beating the Rams and sending them on the road in the playoffs and w/o a bye would make my day. Idgaf about draft picks. I'd love to end the season with a win and for us to play the spoiler. I said much the same last week. There's just something too sweet about it. I can't be mad about a win in this scenario Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J-ALL-DAY Posted December 25, 2018 Share Posted December 25, 2018 Sorry, but a win here would upset be a bit.… only after the fact though. I'll be rooting for the team to win as always, but like after an hour after the game it will hit me what just happened and where we fell in the draft. I think it is super important to get a top 3 pick this draft not only to get a top level edge player, but also for trade down purposes. Could end up getting a very nice haul that will help us accumulate picks in a year where need that. But Chicago will be in a dog fight vs Minny themselves. Not sure Chicago wins that game. So good chance if we win, it will be all for not as the Rams could still clinch the #2 seed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rudyZ Posted December 25, 2018 Share Posted December 25, 2018 13 minutes ago, Forge said: I said much the same last week. There's just something too sweet about it. I can't be mad about a win in this scenario At the end of the day, I'm more disappointed we beat the Broncos and Raiders (since I actually picked us to lose both games... that cost me $10!), and beating the Bears would have been bittersweet even to me (someone who's generally a fan of winning games even in bad seasons). If we beat division rivals (playoffs-bound rivals... I didn't mind losing to the Cards as much), that's just something something fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrry32 Posted December 27, 2018 Share Posted December 27, 2018 On 12/25/2018 at 3:17 AM, N4L said: I've also seen mcvay make some questionable time management decisions against the eagles, so I am unsure about his ability to manage a game when the Rams don't have the lead. I just don't think he's been in that position all that much. It's been all sunshine and rainbows since he stepped of the plane in LA, they haven't had any true adversity yet. Let's give them some! L-O-L. On 12/25/2018 at 8:29 AM, 757-NINER said: I don't care what anybody says...beating the Rams and sending them on the road in the playoffs and w/o a bye would make my day. Idgaf about draft picks. I'd love to end the season with a win and for us to play the spoiler. Well, it looks like this Sunday will be a spoiler for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrry32 Posted December 27, 2018 Share Posted December 27, 2018 4 hours ago, jrry32 said: L-O-L. I think it's only fair that I give a more substantive response than this. @N4L, what is "true adversity" to you? If "true adversity" is a losing record, no, we haven't faced "true adversity" yet. But I have a hard time believing that winning teams haven't faced adversity because they're winning. The Rams were down 35-14 to the Saints in the 2nd quarter in NEW ORLEANS. The Rams were down 31-24 entering the 4th quarter in SEATTLE. The Rams were down multiple times to the Kansas City Chiefs in the 4th quarter on that crazy MNF game. The Rams were down 30-13 against Philly in that SNF game recently. The Rams have faced plenty of adversity this year. They weren't always able to pull out the win, but this team never gave up or stopped fighting when the deck was stacked against us. We scored 21 unanswered points to tie the game at 35 against New Orleans. We scored 10 unanswered points to give ourselves a shot at tying against Philly (and we likely would have tied if not for Natson stupidly stripping the ball from himself). We overcame fourth quarter deficits against Seattle in both games, the Chiefs, and the Packers to win those games. The Rams haven't won every game by two scores this year. We've had a number of close games where we had to scratch and claw for a win. So yeah, I don't know what adversity means to you, but it's certainly not the definition I have for the word. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N4L Posted December 27, 2018 Author Share Posted December 27, 2018 @jrry32 Thank you for providing more of a substantive response. I wasn't sure how I was going to elaborate. To me, being down in one particular game doesn't mean you faced true adversity, at least that's not what I was referencing when I made that statement. I meant, something that happens that would cause immense friction between players/coaches that could lead to the whole thing falling apart. Something really bad that happens. It could even be injuries to key players Its basically really really rough stretch of games where it seems like everything that can go wrong does go wrong, but once you make it through it you go 'if we can make it through that then we can make it through anything' The Rams haven't had that, and it's always inevitable that it happens. Your team has won consistently and youve been healthy. None of your players have been arrested, there's been no friction between players that has surfaced publicly I hope that you understand the point I'm trying to make. Falling behind in a game and making a comeback does show mental fortitude, but when I say true adversity I am talking about something more significant than that. To be fair, that speaks to the coaching job that mcvay and the rest of his staff have done, but it's only a matter of time (at least I hope lol) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldman9er Posted December 27, 2018 Share Posted December 27, 2018 13 hours ago, jrry32 said: L-O-L. Well, it looks like this Sunday will be a spoiler for you. We're gonna bring the PAIN to you this week, buddy! You goin' down!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
49erurtaza Posted December 27, 2018 Share Posted December 27, 2018 Going to be a tough game for us on both sides of the ball. Would love to upset the rams. If we win or lose I won't be upset. I just want us to compete and keep it a close game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrry32 Posted December 27, 2018 Share Posted December 27, 2018 12 hours ago, N4L said: @jrry32 Thank you for providing more of a substantive response. I wasn't sure how I was going to elaborate. To me, being down in one particular game doesn't mean you faced true adversity, at least that's not what I was referencing when I made that statement. I meant, something that happens that would cause immense friction between players/coaches that could lead to the whole thing falling apart. Something really bad that happens. It could even be injuries to key players Its basically really really rough stretch of games where it seems like everything that can go wrong does go wrong, but once you make it through it you go 'if we can make it through that then we can make it through anything' The Rams haven't had that, and it's always inevitable that it happens. Your team has won consistently and youve been healthy. None of your players have been arrested, there's been no friction between players that has surfaced publicly I hope that you understand the point I'm trying to make. Falling behind in a game and making a comeback does show mental fortitude, but when I say true adversity I am talking about something more significant than that. To be fair, that speaks to the coaching job that mcvay and the rest of his staff have done, but it's only a matter of time (at least I hope lol) How could the 49ers give us "true adversity" then? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forge Posted December 27, 2018 Share Posted December 27, 2018 6 minutes ago, jrry32 said: How could the 49ers give us "true adversity" then? Obvious answer is obvious Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrry32 Posted December 27, 2018 Share Posted December 27, 2018 1 minute ago, Forge said: Obvious answer is obvious *Cue Nick Mullens throwing the ball out of bounds instead of running for the first down on 4th down against the Bears* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forge Posted December 27, 2018 Share Posted December 27, 2018 Just now, jrry32 said: *Cue Nick Mullens throwing the ball out of bounds instead of running for the first down on 4th down against the Bears* Yeah.... let's not forget the too early kneel down against the Broncos either. He's got some room for improvement lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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