When you watch a game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Los Angeles Rams, you can’t help but feel like you’re actually watching a weird episode of late night.
We’re not talking about a rival here, folks. No, the rival is Cal and Stanford, the Giants and Dodgers. Pure hate, clear lines.
This? This is a burning thing that needs not to be silenced.
Psychologists have a name for this relationship between the Rams and 49ers: the chameleon effect. Kyle Shanahan and RAMS Head Coach Sean Mcvay don’t (I think) mimic each other – offenses, methods, assistant coaches, players, and games. Everything.
These two even have the same team building model.
Yes, the NFL is a copycat league, but this is on another level. And, obviously, when the Rams and 49ers meet, things get weird.
Doppelganger is an enigma.
Going into this week’s 10 MatchUp at Levi’s Field, everything points to BangEd-up, the 49ers can’t survive the teeth that have been hammered with Hyperddrive three weeks ago, outscoring opponents 20 to 20.
But you know? Logic gets no quarter when these two teams face each other.
This MachityUp, effectively the first elimination game of the NFC West title, has many statistics, very high. Forget standing. This is Shanahan and McVay’s biannual – ahem – masculinity rating contest. It is a mixture of chess, poker and chutes-and-ladders – a dictionary, a round exhibition of two sharp minds in this game.
They’re close friends, graphic arts, and use their 48-man game rosters as proxies in their never-ending battle of “I know you know I know.”
So, yes, the rams have 48 thousand this time. No one but many breathing houses chose the 90s (and even then they seemed reluctant). And I’m not saying that 9 will win.
But between taking it all in and analyzing it, I’ve noticed that many fail to address the most important aspect of Shanahan. He always keeps his most unexpected, most devastating twists reserved for just McVay. He may treat these games like just any other NFL game with the media, but deep down, he feels for them and treats them with respect.
We saw it back in week 5, when the 49ers, a team seemingly fresh off a mash unit, came down to LA on a short week and stole a win with sheer trickery and confusion.
The Rams didn’t expect Mac Jones and Kendrick Bourne to drive the 49ers’ suspects up and down the field in a variety of ways.
And they certainly didn’t see the 9 tearing up the RAMS’ COVES 6 BASED all week and admitting the outside area running in an effort to sell McVay’s favorite play, the Insior Run called Duo. The Rams were caught off guard – their entire game plan was thrown out until we made some early hour changes. (That’s offset by the rookie offense’s offensive defensive end with a deep pass.)
It doesn’t seem to be enough – the Niners come out of the Southland with a win.
Shanahan and his Defensive Coordinator, Robert Saleh, have some serious problems with their bodies this season. We’re only 10 weeks in – just past the tip of the year – but it’s worth wondering if there’s another trick lurking in there.
But if anything, it’s coming on Sunday. Shanahan doesn’t hold back against McVay.
If not, the niners’ chances of winning the NFC West will go up in smoke.
The Rams and Seahawks are playing at a Super Bowl level right now. The NINELS are clearly not that number and may not reach it at all, due to the ever-increasing injury report.
But a win over the Rams keeps the NFC West dream alive for two. Not only will the flood season give them a timebreak over LA – and a 4-0 start in the division – will also jump the Niners over the Rams.
The seahawks will have to wait until week 18, if the 9 can survive long enough to make that game work.
Is there any sense to suggest that this Niners team can win this game or this division? Not at all.
But this is the enduring, beautiful silliness of this rant: What does understanding 49ers-Rams have to do with it, anyway?
My mind says the Rams win on offense, 33-21, but here’s my real prediction, and it’s the easiest thing I’ll do all season: Let chaos reign.
