It's Rams-Niners Week! The Los Angeles Rams Look to take Control of the NFC West; from LA Rams Up

Welcome back to Rams up, your Los Angeles Rams podcast. We're a proud member of the Pigskin podcast network. We'll cover just about any SoCal sports team, but we're mostly about your Los Angeles Rams. I'm your host, mark, let's get to it. 

Welcome back, Rams fans, to episode 43 of Season 2 and it is 49er week Rams play the 49ers on Monday night. 

That's why we're dropping this podcast today late, the focus of this episode, a preview of that game. 

Of course, we also have our straight up game packs. 

Before we get to that, let's get some. 

Injury updates. 

Brian Allen still not practicing and neither is Kobe Durant, David Long or Jordan Fuller. 

Three members of our secondary still potentially out for this 40 niner game. 

Derion Kendrick limited due to a concussion he suffered in that Cardinal game. 

Mcbay seems to think he will be good to go for the 40 niner game. 

By the way, this is the Rams first injury report for this week, coming out on a Thursday because of the Monday Night Football game. 

That Friday injury report, which may be up at the time you hear this, that's going to be the big one that I'll tell us a lot more about. 

The prospect of some of these guys playing. 

And also interesting McVay suggesting that Malcolm Brown could be activated for the 40 niner game he's currently on the practice squad. 

Interesting stat I stumbled across. The Rams are clearly taking a bend don't break approach on defense, and one of the results of that they're #2 in the league. 

As far as limiting explosive plates, 13 explosive plays they've allowed over three games. 

That league averages over 20, making the opposition Dr the field and hopefully kick field goals or turn the ball off. 

Seems to be working. 

So for that bills game, it's been working pretty darn good. 

Take a look at the snap counts from the Rams Cardinal games. 

The Cardinals ran 83 plays on offense and Taylor Rapp, by my count, has not missed a defensive snap. Yet Bobby Wagner missed 1 snap. He had 82 Ernest Jones. 

And trell Lewis and Justin Hollins sharing duties on the edge. 

Lewis, though, had eleven more snaps than Hollins drop hurt us getting into some action. 

You know, a lot of guys banged up in the secondary, so Burgess is in there for 26 snaps and Grant Haley with David Long out 67 snaps, leapfrog. 

Over Robert Rochelle in that regard, and the new guy tacked McKinley 7 snaps on offense. The Rams only ran 48 plays. Rob Havenstein missed 3 plays when he got rolled up from behind. 

Darrell Henderson and Cam Akers a perfect split and snaps. 

Kendall Blanton had five snaps in the one big catch. 

Brandon Powell, 6, snaps 2. Two at well, three, so they're still given 22 his shots. Still looking for his first career catch. 

Kind of amazing and the new sheriff in town, Ben Skowronek, missed just 7 snaps. 

I did want to quickly touch on my loop around the league last week. 

I totally mangled how I presented the end of the Lions Vikings game, but I bet you none of you noticed. 

In my straight up game pick segment coming up later, I picked the Lions for the fourth straight time and I'm even taking it one step further. 

The Lions are my survivor pick this week. 

How about that? 

By the way I was going to. 

Include my power rankings in this episode. 

I shared that on the YouTube channel yesterday. 

Check that out if you want to. 

So I am not going to share it here. 

I'm not going to regurgitate it. 

That was my original idea, but one of my top teams is playing as I'm recording this, so my power rankings are already probably being destroyed as we speak. 

So we'll get to it another time, but go to the YouTube channel. 

If you want to see those power rankings. 

We'll be back in a minute. 

We'll get. 

Into this big Rams Niners game. 

But bought his back, baby. 

We're back to seeing Stafford slinging beautiful balls all over the field to Cooper Kupp. 

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Well, here we go again. 

Ran fans. Rams, Niners football. 

Is it going to be fun and? 

Now it's not going to be fun. 

Until the end. 

At the end we're going to be happy, I think, but these games, I swear. 

Do I enjoy sitting for three hours watching these teams kill each other? 

The Rams and Niners? 

Not so stressful. 

But when the rants pull out the win, it is so, so sweet. So let's take a look at this game, the series record between the two 49ers still with an edge 75. 

Wins, 68 losses and three ties. 

The last time they played, in my mind, the most memorable game they've ever played, the Rams beat the Niners in that epic NFC Championship Game, 20 to 17. 

Oh, that was so much fun. 

Aaron Donald taking down Jimmy G Trivon Howard, seizing the tipped ball and game over. 

But there were so many great moments in that game. 

You know what? 

I think I have to go back and watch it. 

Again, that was a lot of fun. 

Now I know you're thinking, hey Mark, you just said it's a miserable experience watching these few teams play well. 

But in this case, I know how it turns out. 

Let's take a look at the Niners head coach Kyle Shanahan, his sixth year. 

Including this year 44 wins and 46 losses and. 

His record without Jimmy G is pretty dismal. 

Really sad, but he's got Jimmy G back. 

No, they're not going to be any pushover. 

That's for. 

Sure, key players. 

Dipo Samuel always have threat with the ball in his hands. 

He struggled in the run game last week, but. 

He's the guy the Rams are going to have to focus on, obviously. 

George Kittle, the tight end. 

He's always coming up with big catches against the Rams, but you know he's been banged up a lot. 

Came back last week, played for the first time this year. 

Didn't do a whole lot, but that could change against the Rams on the defensive side. 

Key guys. 

Fred Warner, the linebacker. 

One of the best in the business, Nick Bosa. 

The defensive end also wanted to best Jimmy Ward, who holds down that secondary for him. 

He will miss this game, as will Trent Williams. 

Suffered a high ankle sprain late in that. 

Lost to the Broncos, so it's a double whammy for the Niners. 

They lose that game to the Broncos and they lose their best player heading into the game against their biggest rival. 

The Los Angeles Rams, so you know they can't be happy about that. 

And Aaron Donald and a Shawn Robinson, Leonard Floyd and those guys are probably licking their chops. 

No, Trent Williams and Jimmy G not Trey Lance back there. 

It changes a defensive game plan, and I'll talk a little bit about that in a moment here with their draft picks. 

Key draft picks Drake Jackson, the edge rusher out of USC. 

He's already picked up a sack. 

Running back Tyrion Davis, price out of LSU. 

And he was going to backup Elijah Mitchell. 

And you know, they also had Trey sermon there. 

Well, guess what? 

All three of these guys are gone and the rookie Davis Price is injured as his Mitchell Trey sermon was cut and Jeff Wilson is the primary guy back there, along with Depot Ram Connection Sampson. 

Brucan, and I don't know if you heard Sampson. 

He kind of took a shot at the Rams before the season started, saying basically that, hey, if he had been used correctly, just as a pure edge rusher, his career would be so much further along. 

Suggesting the Rams misused him a little bit, but. 

But hey, he's entitled to his opinion. Hey, maybe it's right. I don't know. Last week against the Broncos, Deebo 5 rushes for six yards, Jeff Wilson, 12 for 75. Not too shabby. And like I said, kiddo, not really getting it done yet. 

Brandon I, Duke has been their primary weapon on offense, be honest. 

And he's a guy there and so I have to focus on. 

See if Ramsey gets the job there. 

Probably not. 

I think Durant will mix it up a little bit, not necessarily assigning 1 cornerback to lock anyone down. 

And of course, a lot of it depends on which RAM cornerbacks are available. 

We'll get into that a little bit later. To the odds, Niners by 2 1/2, which surprised me at first. 

But then, hey, you know, I get. 

It the Rams have really had trouble with the Niners in the regular season. 

The Rams are on the road. 

The Niners backed up against the wall. 

They are desperate for a win here. 

They need this more than their ants. 

Be quite frank, of course. 

The Rams have to come into this game thinking, you know what? 

We can bury them. 

We can get two games up on them with a win here. 

Let's get it done. 

Weather shouldn't be an. 

Issue it's going to be around 80 degrees daytime. 

It's an evening game, no should actually be a perfect night for football. 

Rams come in two on one, Niners one and 2 niner, suffering losses to the Bears and Broncos and hammering the Seahawks at home. 

The Rams with winds over the Falcons and Cardinals in that dreadful loss to the bills. 

We'll be back in a second. 

With our fearsome 4 keys to the game and our prediction. 

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OK, back to this RAM Niners game. 

What are my fearsome 4 keys to the game? 

For some key number one, keep it depot in check, and by that I mean primarily yards after catch and yards in the rushing game. 

When he has the ball, get him down on the ground. 

Don't let him start to feel it early in the game. 

Take that away from the 49ers early. That'll frustrate them so much. I mean, after Depot, their lead running back is Jeff Wilson, and I'm not trying to besmirch him at all, but hey, he's no Derek. 

Henry Depot is the. 

Guy we got to worry about. 

Let's keep him in check, limit his yards after catch, and limit his production in the run game. 

For some key #2 now, this is where it gets a little bit tricky. First three games of the year, the Rams face Josh Allen, Marcus Mariota and Kyler Murray, and our strategy on defense is pretty clear. Bend, but don't break discipline, pass rush. 

Don't let these quarterbacks extend the play and hurt you with their legs, and the Rams have been fairly successful with that, more so with Mariota and Murray then with Alan. 

But now you bring on. 

Jimmy G now if it was Trey Lance, I think it would be. 

More of the same. 

But with Jimmy J, it's a little bit different now. 

I think the Rams are going to mix it up and by mix it up, I don't think they're going to necessarily just go all out trying to put Jimmy G on the ground. 

I think they're going to do that some of the. 

Time, but other times they're going to lay back. 

And frustrate Jimmy. 

With blanket coverage of his receivers and then the next down they're going to come after him and they're going to put him on the ground and Jimmy G will not know what's coming, not knowing what's coming. 

He's going to get rid of the ball earlier than he should sometimes. 

Other times he's going to hang onto it too long. 

He's going to get put on the ground. 

He's going to fumble, he's going to. 

Throw interceptions. 

At least that's what the hope is, but that's the secret. 

I think against Jimmy G is confusing him, bringing pressure once in a while, laying back, letting him make mistakes. 

Don't sit back like they have in the previous three games and tell Jimmy G Hey, we're not coming after you put together a 1516 play drive. 

Go ahead, have at it. Because the 49ers can do that. We have to come after him sometimes, not every time. Keep them off balance. 

And the Rams defense will win this battle. 

For some, king #3 is when the physical battles on offense and hey, I'm talking about Ben and that offensive line and Tyler Higbee, guys like that for defense, likes to play some Smash Mouth. We cannot let them punk us if we punch them in the mouth a couple times on offense. 

We'll have a leg up on them, be a big key to this game and fearsome Kingdom before, like they showed a lot of creativity against the Cardinals and he has to do it again against the 49ers. 

This is a team that knows us well. 

We've got to find new ways to get our playmakers the ball. 

Cooper cup. 

This least productive game in a while. 

Maybe some teams are starting to catch on and how to put the clamps on Cooper a little bit, so it's very important McVay gets creative in this one. 

To give his offensive better chance, give his playmakers a better chance of getting the ball in their hands, skid Allen Robinson involved whatever it takes. 

Make sure we free up Cooper Kupp. 

Get Ben going. 

Hey, how about handing the ball off to bed? 

I'd like to see that. 

I think we're going to see some fun. 

Stuff from McVay in this. 

Game, and I think a lot of creativity will go along. 

Way to winning this game for the Rams and my prediction, I think it's going to be a little bit low scoring. 

His team saw defenses are both playing really well. Offenses have been a little bit inconsistent. I think the Rams are showing a little bit more life than the 49ers. That's for. 

Sure. So I'll take the Rams 23 to 13. I think the 49ers are going to have a hard time getting into the end zone the way their offense is playing. 

Right now with Jimmy G Back at the helm. 

Rams will get a couple scores, Matt. 

Gay will have a big game. 

Rams 23 to 13. 

Let's get into our straight up game picks for week four. 

First, let's take a look at the standings. 

Been tracking Mike Florio, Lorenzo Reyes, and Pete Prisco. 

Go along with my own picks. 

Of course, I made some adjustments for these other guys instead of tracking them myself. 

Updated my results with what they are posting on their sites and lo and behold we have a 3 way tie. 26 correct, 22 wrong. That's Pete, Mike and myself. 

Remember, I'm giving a correct pick for the TIE games and rental. One behind us at 25, correct and 23. 

Tom so pretty tight and very happy to find myself ahead of Lorenzo. 

Might be the first time that's ever happened, but let's look at the week four games and every week. 

Really presenting some challenges when it comes. 

To these pecs. 

First up, dolphins at the Bengals. 

I think the Bengals might be catching the Dolphins at a good time. 

Everybody knew Darlene team in the NFL, but. 

But following a big divisional win might be a good opportunity for the Bengals to get a win here. 

And I'm taking the Bengals, Vikings at the Saints, two teams really difficult to figure out. 

Saints did not play well against the Panthers and still have a really good defense. Vikings came to life against the Lions in the second-half. I'm going to take. 

The Vikings to keep on rolling. 

Brown said the Falcons and the Browns are a team that I was really impressed with. 

I think I've been underrating them from the get go and the Falcons are moving in the right direction. 

Hey, anytime you can come out of Seattle with win. 

That's a good day, and I'm going to take the Falcons in this one. 

I see the Falcons get into two and two, and that would be big for Atlanta. 

That division is kind of wide open. 

I know everybody is picking Tampa Bay, but they have some issues themselves. 

Bills at the Ravens, another tough game to pick. 

I'm sure the Ravens are wishing the bills had survived. 

That trip to Miami Ravens looked really good. 

Lamar Jackson turned it up, but I think the Bills bounced back. 

They're not going to lose 2. 

In a row. 

Could go either way, though, but I'll take the bills commanders at the Cowboys, Cowboys actually playing really good football with their backup quarterback. 

Commanders going nowhere, sinking in my rankings pretty close to the bottom. 

I'll take the Cowboys, Seahawks and the Lions, and you know who I'm going to pick, if you've been following this podcast at all. 

Well, I'm taking the lions the fourth straight week. 

I've picked the Lions to win. 

I've been right only once, although, man, they gave that game away in Minnesota and my opinion? 

But they're the better team here and it's going to be a really good game. 

It's probably going to be extremely entertaining, but I think the lions get to two and two. 

Charges at the Texans and. 

Man, chargers. 

What a horrible loss to the Jags. 

But you know what? 

The Jags are another team that we've undervalued. 

They're pretty darn good. 

I think the Chargers bounce back with a win here on the road. 

Titans at the Colts, two teams that everybody saw fighting for that Divisional championship Jags. 

They're going to have something to say about that. 

Apparently this game is extremely important. 

The loser is going to find themselves in a bit of a hole in this division. 

I think the Colts win it at home. 

Bears at the Giants? 

Yeah, this is going to be an ugly game. 

I watched the giant Cowboys game and neither of those offenses really impressed me. 

And I don't think the Bears offense really offers us a lot either. 

I don't know. 

This game is probably going to be a real eyesore on television, but I'll take the giants. 

Jags and Eagles. 

This might be one of the more interesting games of the season thus far. 

The Jags could beat the Eagles in Philadelphia. 

Trust me, this is going to be a highly competitive game. 

But I'm going to take the Eagles to stay undefeated. 

I'll be pulling for the Jags. 

That'll be good for the Rams, 'cause. 

If we're looking at home field, advantage in the. 

Playoffs Eagles could be a team well positioned for home field advantage. 

Every loss they get will be to the Rams advantage. 

Jets at the Steelers. 

This is probably going to be a defensive struggle not made for TV football. 

In my opinion. 

I'll take the steal. 

Cardinals at Panthers you know, they played a doozy of a game last year. 

And Panthers. 

Came to life, McCaffrey getting it done. 

Finally healthy. 

I'm going to take the Panthers. 

Patriots at the Packers, Green Bay at Lambeau. 

They'll take care of the Patriots pretty easily. 

I think Broncos at the Raiders and the Broncos are a team that I think I had pegged pretty well. 

Russell Wilson. 

I don't think he's delivering like Bronco fans expected. 

And I think the Raiders finally get one here. 

Avoid going oh in four barcodes will not be able to keep up with. 

The Raiders offense. 

Raiders cut the wind cheats at the Buccaneers? 

I'm going to take the chance. 

The Bucs offense really unimpressive. 

So far their defense has been keeping them in games. 

But I think the Chiefs have enough offense. 

They'll get two or three touchdowns on the board and the Bucs will not be able to match that Rams at Niners another contender for game of the week. 

This is going to be really good television. 

49ers have given their ants problems in prime time, that's for sure. But they're in an odd spot. They're a weird team. 

There is such a weird team their coaching doesn't. 

The coaching does not instill confidence in me. 

The quarterback does not either. 

The defense is really good. 

I think the Rams are going to be able to stop their run game and put just enough points on the board to win this Rams take control. 

The NFC West with the windows are straight up game picks for this. 

Week and hey. 

Keep an eye on that Jags Eagles game. 

That's one game I will be watching. 

That should be lots of fun. 

That's going to do it for this episode. Remember, you can reach us at Rams up podcast@gmail.com. 

You can visit our website at ramsup.com. We'll find links to all of our episodes and a link to our YouTube channel. And you can also leave us a voicemail from our website. Don't forget. 

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Stayed safe and have fun out there. 

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