***TNF IN THE SWAMP - LAR @ SF***
***LOS ANGELES RAMS @ SAN FRANCISCO 49ers***
Tonight features an ugly NFC West battle in the bay as the 1-1 LA Rams head into San Fran to take on the 0-2 49ers. Both teams have started the complete makeover process this past offseason by hiring new Head Coaches. Two first time HCs in Kyle Shanahan for the Niners and the youngest HC ever in Sean McVay for the Rams. Both have many ties to each other and once were part of the same staff in Washington. That is only the beginning of the large amount of ties and relationships between the personnel both on and off the field for these two franchises tonight which makes for a fun matchup. The Rams looked like world beaters when they opened their season up at home in McVay's first game against the lowly QBless Colts and then were knocked back down to Earth last week when McVay's former employer the Washington Redskins came in as a hungry 0-1 team and got the win. That being said, McVay has gotten his first win and loss out of the way but tonight will be his first test on the road. Shanahan on the other hand remains winless in his first two games at home against the Panthers to open the season and last week in Seattle where they nearly pulled out an upset in a close defensive battle.
At first glance here I feel as though you got to like the Niners at home and catching some points as Shanahan and Co. surely could not be hungrier to get that first win, especially on the Prime Time stage. However, it is important to realize that sometimes when a team performs as well as they did last week, especially on the road and still comes up short; that can have a negative effect for the next outing. They played their hearts out in Seattle, against a Seahawk team that looks as though they have some major issues of their own they are working through, and still were not able to get it done against their big brother. Now on a short week, they got their feisty cousin coming into town and he wants to punch them in the mouth. I think it may be hard for the Niners to match that intensity they had a couple days ago and with Rams Sophomore QB Jared Goff playing in his hometown for the first time looking for his first road victory of his short career, I think I like him to have himself a solid outing tonight. The Niners will be without their starting Safeties and a banged up LB core. Their defensive line and unit as a whole is solid, but Goff should be able to find success through the air with his new weapons in WR Sammy Watkins and Rookie WR Cooper Kupp. The fact that Goff looks way more comfortable and confident this season so far does wonders for the Rams running game and stud RB Todd Gurley. The Gurley-mon seems to be back in his best form and like he plans on having himself a bounce back season. Gurley is the perfect all purpose back for Goff because he is also great catching passes out of the backfield and acts as a security blanket for the young QB to dump off to when in trouble.
The Niners have an RB looking like he is planning to have a bounce back year of his own in Carlos Hyde. Finally healthy again, Hyde ripped through the Seattle defense last week and is running the rock with authority. Maybe it is the heat he feels from the talented undrafted Rookie Matt Breida who has begun to make a name for himself as well. Between the two of them, the Niners rushing attack looks good, it is the QB play that is the problem. Journeyman veteran Bryan Hoyer is at the helm and is showing why he generally remains in the NFL backup QB role throughout his career as he has stunk it up the first two games and the 49ers offense has YET to score a Touchdown! Things won't get any easier tonight against a very talented Rams defense led by legendary Defensive Coordinator Wade Phillips. Wade has moved some pieces around like transforming the young hard hitting Safety from Alabama Mark Barron into an outside linebacker, I love that stuff! The Redskins were able to gash this defense with their running game last week and that is a rushing attack that doesn't really scare too many. However as I just mentioned this is a defense with a lot of new pieces and guys in new spots, so I will chalk that up to some growing pains as they probably were more focused on QB Kirk Cousins and the Skins passing attack. Tonight I would assume that Wade's plan is probably to stifle the running game and force Hoyer to beat them through the air. I see a valiant effort from both sides in a hard fought battle with Goff coming into his own a bit tonight and getting the first road win against a divisional opponent in the spotlight here. Both teams are in that rebuilding process but the Rams are much further ahead because they already have their most important piece in place, a QB, San Fran is just a step behind and will probably be one of those teams to find their new face of the franchise in next year's draft. Until then, it will probably be mostly L's this season.
RAMS-3
