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The San Francisco 49ers are returning from their Week 11 Bye to face a Los Angeles Rams team in pursuit of their third straight win of the season. As the 49ers sit outside to watch the playoff run, the team are looking to improve their chances ahead of their Week 12 divisional rematch against the Rams. Here are five things to watch for during the last regular season meeting between the two clubs.
In the team’s Week 11 Bye, the 49ers were hit hard, with nine players landing on the Reserve / COVID-19 roster. Three have since been activated, but several starters remain, including left tackle Trent Williams and rookie receiver Brandon Aiyuk. Players on the roster are expected to pass three consecutive negative tests before returning to the active roster, putting several players at risk ahead of Sunday’s slope.
In addition, three other 49ers did not train on Thursday and Friday due to precautionary measures due to illness. Tight end Jordan Reed and linebackers Dre Greenlaw and Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles are all questionable for the Week 12 Division game.
Meanwhile, it was reported that two members of the Rams had Covid results which required “further testing”. While it has not been revealed whether the results in question involve players, coaches or staff, Friday’s practice has been called off out of caution.
Both situations are worth watching out for before the weekend.
2. Offensive reinforcements
The 49ers may be without a number of starters due to the aforementioned precautions, but the squad is set to receive several key players ahead of Sunday’s game. Deebo Samuel, Raheem Mostert and Jeff Wilson Jr. are all potential candidates for a comeback against the Rams.
Samuel suffered a hamstring injury against the New England Patriots that kept him sidelined for the past three weeks. Mostert and Wilson Jr., who were placed on the injured reserve list due to ankle injuries, both resumed training on Wednesday. Barring a setback, Kyle Shanahan said all three 49ers playmakers are expected to return on Sunday.
The 49ers may receive several key pieces of the offense ahead of Sunday’s game, but Richard Sherman’s return to defense is just as notable.
Sherman missed nine straight games after sustaining a calf injury in the 49ers’ season opener against the Arizona Cardinals. The corner returned to practice ahead of 49ers Bye Week 11. According to Shanahan, the 49ers will activate Wilson Jr., Mostert and Sherman by the 1 p.m. PT deadline on Saturday for the game.
Since leaving the roster, the 49ers have seen Emmanuel Moseley and Jason Verrett primarily occupy corner spots in San Francisco. Verrett has become one of the 49ers’ best players in defense with a 77.6 cover rating that ranks sixth in the cornerback position, allowing just 141 yards on 228 cover shots, according to Pro Football Focus. He even got a spot on the analytics site’s Midseason All-Pro team.
He’s partly leading a San Francisco defense that kept teams under 209 passing yards per game and gave opposing quarterbacks a 92.8 passer rating, the league’s fourth-best rating.
With Sherman’s return imminent, Shanahan hinted that the corner would reclaim its place in the secondary as long as it was “100%”. Sherman in the roster should certainly give San Francisco a boost, especially against a Rams offense that averages just under 272 passing yards per game, the ninth-best mark in the league.
With an almost complete team of running backs for the first time since the start of the season, can the 49ers regain a foothold in the ground game? The Rams are currently allowing just 3.9 yards per carry and less than 92 yards per game on opposing rushing attacks, the league’s fifth-best mark. Meanwhile, in the last three games, San Francisco has run no more than 55 rushing yards and averaging 2.4 yards per carry, a far cry from their league-leading numbers the previous season.
Mostert appears to be one of the major contributors to San Francisco’s pressing woes. In his four games this season, the running back is averaging 5.9 yards per carry and nearly 76 yards per game while sharing the runs with the rest of the San Francisco backers, a significant improvement over its exit.
One of the biggest feats of the San Francisco roller coaster season could be the team’s ability to calm down Rams’ perennial All-Pro defensive tackle Aaron Donald. The San Francisco offensive line had one of its best performances of the season, keeping Jimmy Garoppolo on his feet throughout the game, giving up zero sacks and just two quarterback presses.
According to Next Gen Stats, the Rams ‘pass rush struggled to generate pressure on Garoppolo, putting pressure on just 6.1% of dropouts (2 of 33), the Rams’ second lowest rate in a match since 2016.
It’ll be a different challenge in week 12 as the San Francisco O-line aims to replicate its earlier success. Donald currently sits third in the NFL with nine sacks and 35 presses although he hasn’t recorded a single sack or tackle in the past two games. Donald is certainly seeking revenge. He adds to a defense that has become one of the top units in the NFL for 11 weeks, something San Francisco aims to counter with the return of multiple offensive reinforcements available to Nick Mullens.
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