The Los Angeles Rams, who are coming off with a convincing 30-13 road victory in Seattle, get set to play their home opener on Sunday against another NFC west foe, the San Francisco 49ers.
Despite not having star wide receiver Cooper Kupp, who landed on injured reserve before Sunday’s game due to a hamstring injury, the Rams still had a pass catcher record double-digit receptions and had two record more than 100 receiving yards.
Puka Nacua, who was making his NFL debut, led the team with 10 receptions and tied third-year receiver Tutu Atwell with 119 receiving yards.
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Although neither receiver caught a touchdown, it set up the production in the running game for Cam Akers and Kyren Williams.
Williams had 15 carries for 52 yards and two touchdowns while Akers had 22 carries for 29 yards and a touchdown.
Quarterback Matthew Stafford completed 24-of-38 for 334 yards and an 88.9 quarterback rating in the victory.
“The best thing for me to watch those guys do, was that it was fun to watch them go complete,” Stafford said Wednesday of his receivers. “Whether it was man coverage, zone, penetrate after the catcher, whatever it was, our guys did a nice job of competing.”
Kicker Brett Maher, who missed four extra point opportunities for an NFL record in the playoffs last year as a member of the Dallas Cowboys, made three of his five field goals from 38, 54 and 45 yards out, respectively.
His first field goal chance from 57 yards out was blocked and his second, a couple minutes later before the conclusion of the first half went wide right from 56 yards out before making all three of his kicks in the second half.
However, the defense was able to keep the Seahawks in check as they scored a touchdown on their second drive before limiting Seattle to a couple of field goals after that.
Like the Rams, the 49ers are also coming off a convincing road win.
Last week, San Francisco traveled to Pittsburgh and defeated the Steelers, 30-7. The Niners, who scored in every quarter last week, were led by quarterback Brock Purdy. Mr. Irrelevant from the 2022 NFL Draft looked more like Mr. Relevant as Purdy completed 19-of-29 passes for 220 yards and two touchdowns, which both went to wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk.
In addition to his two scores, Aiyuk led the team by catching all eight of his targets for 129 yards. Wide receiver Deebo Samuel and tight end Geoge Kittle combined for eight receptions and 74 yards to help round out the production through the air.
On the ground, Christian McCaffrey carried the ball 22 times for 129 yards and a touchdown, which came from 65 yards out in the third quarter.
Defensively, San Francisco limited Pittsburgh to just 41 yards of rushing and had two interceptions, which led to the 49ers having the ball for 37 minutes, signifying how much the Niners controlled the game.
Now the two undefeated teams in the NFC West square off to determine who will be the only team in the division with a perfect record and who will be one game back heading into Week 3.
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Los Angeles Rams must defeat the defensive backs
If there was one way offensively for the Rams to defeat the reigning NFC West Champions, who also advanced to last year’s NFC Championship Game, it has to come on the outside against the 49ers secondary.
Even for how talented the secondary is for the 49ers, head coach Sean McVay can figure out this week how to draw up plays for Atwell and Nucua to have some production, especially for how difficult the 49ers run defense will be.
Nucua, who did not practice Thursday because of an oblique injury, said the goal is to try and replicate what the team did in Week 1, but against a toughwe opponent that is bigger and stronger than the Seahawks.
“Just consistency and execution in the passing (game) of where we left off from last week and then the urgency in the run game to be there and to be prepared for the physical team we’re about to play,” Nucua said Wednesday.
Stafford added that San Francisco has a balanced defensive approach, which can hurt opponents because of their high talent.
“Good defense in the pass game in my opinion is about rush and coverage,” Stafford said. “It’s not just these guys getting home all the time or we can cover all day. It’s a little of both. They’re guys in the back end do a great job of understanding what their guys in the front seven are doing as far as when we can be aggressive on these routes and can we be less aggressive here…and it’s a first-round pick at basically every spot you look at.”
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Aaron Donald vs. Nick Bosa
On defense, the biggest matchup is between defensive lineman Aaron Donald and Rams defensive end Nick Bosa, the latter of whom signed a five-year, $170 million contract with $122 million in guaranteed money to make him the highest paid defender in the league.
This is going to be Donald’s 18th game against San Francisco. In the previous 17 games, Donald has 12.5 sacks, 32 quarterback hits and 77 total tackles against the 49ers.
Last week, Donald showed how much of a presence he is when Seahawks quarterbacks yelled, “Oh My God” as the 6-foot-1, 280-pound lineman was coming for him:
When these two teams met last year, Donald had five tackles and two for a loss in Week 4 and seven tackles with a tackle for loss in Week 7.
The Rams’ offense line is going to have its challenge against Bosa and Niners. Being able to control the line of scrimmage is going to be critical as Donald and Bosa will be key factors for both offensive lines to try and contain on Sunday afternoon.