Week 5 of the NFL season brings an exciting NFC West clash as the Los Angeles Rams face off against the San Francisco 49ers. Both teams have had strong starts, but with divisional supremacy on the line, this primetime matchup promises to be packed with intensity.
The Rams this year are 13th in points scored and 10th in points allowed while the 49ers are 23rd in points scored and 8th in points allowed. Matthew Stafford is having another great season being 2nd in passing yards and 3rd in passing touchdowns and Puka Nacua has looked like a top WR so far this year.
I want to start with the other side of the ball where Mac Jones will have a very tough time getting rolling with Ricky Pearsall and Juan Jennings out. The 49ers successful first 3 weeks starting 3-0 were good but they may have been the worst 3-0 team in the league and the Jacksonville Jaguars showed who the 49ers really were last week. Now they go into Thursday with a harder opponent, a backup QB, and their two best wide receivers are injured. It looks really rough for the 49ers offense tonight. But this a divisional matchup. Last season the two matchups between these teams were 6 point games or closer.
As I said early Matthew Stafford is having another great season having a 106 QBR this year and against the undefeated Colts last week he threw for 375 yards and 3 touchdowns. Matt has a reliable target in Puka Nacua who has 8 plays of 20+ yards this year. The 49ers are 23rd against WRs so Puka has a great matchup tonight. He is 1st in Receiving Yards and Catches and he is on pace for when of the best receiving seasons ever .
All the 49ers have this game to lead their offense is Christian McCaffery but he has a tough matchup against a Rams defense who is 6th in run stop win rate. The 49ers are 6th worst in Pass Rush win rate so with this matchup here is my prediction:
Rams 30, 49ers 16