After blowing out the Seahawks in Week 1, the Rams are looking ahead to their matchup with the 49ers on Sunday afternoon – a massive test for this young Los Angeles team. It’s the first of two meetings between the Rams and 49ers, though their next one won’t come until Week 18 in the season finale.
To get you ready for this weekend’s tilt, we’ve highlighted six stats and facts to know – including Matthew Stafford’s record against the 49ers a note on San Francisco’s pass rush.
49ers have won 8 straight regular-season games vs. Rams
It’s no secret that the 49ers have the Rams’ number. They have for years. Fortunately, the Rams beat San Francisco in the NFC title game last January but other than that, the 49ers have owned this rivalry in recent seasons.
San Francisco has won eight straight regular-season meetings dating back to 2019, covering the spread eight times in that span, including a stretch of seven straight.
Rams had most rushing attempts, 3rd-worst YPC in Week 1
The Rams ran the ball 40 times against the Seahawks, the most rushing attempts by any team in the NFL last week. Those 40 carries only netted 92 yards on the ground, which ranks 18th in the league so far. With an average of 2.3 yards per carry, the Rams are 30th in that category.
It’s early, but the ground game wasn’t particularly efficient against Seattle. It doesn’t help that Cam Akers had just 29 yards on 20 attempts, with 12 of those yards coming on one carry.
49ers lead NFL with 24 pressures but allowed league-high 55.9% pressure rate
Sunday’s matchup between the 49ers and Steelers was a battle of two exceptional pass rushes led by Nick Bosa and T.J. Watt. The 49ers did an excellent job getting after Kenny Pickett in their 30-7 win, but the Steelers also found ways to generate pressure.
According to Pro Football Reference, the 49ers lead the NFL with 24 pressures, but they also gave up the highest pressure rate of any team in Week 1 (55.9%). Don’t expect the Rams to pressure Brock Purdy 56% of the time on Sunday but it seems San Francisco’s line might be a little bit vulnerable.
Christian McCaffrey leads NFL in yards after contact
Good luck getting McCaffrey on the ground. He’s one of the best running backs in the NFL and proved that again in Week 1 when he rushed for 152 yards on 22 carries. Of those 152 yards on the ground, 107 of them came after contact, so he was difficult to bring down, as usual.
The Rams held Kenneth Walker to 64 yards on Sunday, but that was on just 12 attempts because the Seahawks abandoned the run in the second half when their offense was stalling. Slowing down McCaffrey will be a much bigger test, especially in Kyle Shanahan’s creative offense.
Rams are only team with two 100-yard receivers
Through the first week of the season, there’s only one team with two receivers who have at least 100 yards: the Rams. That might not have seemed so surprising if Cooper Kupp were one of them, but the fact that Puka Nacua and Tutu Atwell are the NFL’s only tandem with 100-plus yards is shocking.
Atwell and Nacua each had 119 yards in the Rams’ win over Seattle, with Atwell catching six passes and Nacua hauling in 10. No other team has two receivers with even 90 yards each.
Matthew Stafford is 2-7 all-time vs. 49ers, 1-4 with Rams
Stafford hasn’t exactly had the most success against the 49ers, whether it was with the Lions or the Rams. In his career, he’s 2-7 against San Francisco with 15 touchdowns and seven interceptions. As a member of the Rams, he’s 1-4 against them, with the one win coming in the playoffs two seasons ago.
His personal numbers against the 49ers were actually better with the Lions (eight touchdowns, one interception) than they’ve been with the Rams (seven touchdowns, six interceptions), too. He and the Rams will try to flip the script on Sunday and pull off an upset against San Francisco.
