Sunday’s NFC Championship Game will feature division rivals as the Los Angeles Rams host the San Francisco 49ers. It’s a matchup of two California teams at SoFi Stadium, also site of this year’s Super Sunday festivities.
The Rams haven’t beaten the Niners since the 2018 season, losing the last six to their NFC West foe. Rams head coach Sean McVay has been great going 55-26 since he was hired in 2017, leading the team to a SB appearance and three division titles. But he hasn’t had much success against his former boss Kyle Shanahan and his Niners squad. In nine matchups McVay is just 3-6, including six straight losses to “Shanny.”
Kyle Shanahan's 49ers have owned Sean McVay's Rams the past three years. 😳 pic.twitter.com/CtskqewCMK
— theScore (@theScore) January 10, 2022
If the Rams want to be the second consecutive home team to host the Super Bowl that will need to change Sunday in Inglewood, California. The mentee will need to beat the mentor, something McVay hasn’t been able to do since 2018.
It’s official: #49ers Vs The #Rams for the NFC Championship pic.twitter.com/0IwhMZ1msV
— OurSF49ers (@OurSf49ers) January 23, 2022
McVay was asked if Shanahan was in his head earlier in the week.
“No. What I do have is respect for these guys. They’ve done a great job. You look at it, you’ve got to play well in that three-and-a-half hour window that were allotted. You look at the last time we played them, we didn’t finish the game. But this is really a good football team. We have a lot of respect for them, but we’re competing and preparing to the best of our ability to see if we can advance. But this is a really good team. Kyle’s an excellent coach. He’s got great players, great coaches, good schemes, so that’s why they’re in the NFC Championship.”
Kyle Shanahan vs Sean McVay:
– With Jimmy Garoppolo: 6-0
– With any other QB: 1-3 pic.twitter.com/9SMV54A8Lw— Matthew Freedman (@MattFtheOracle) January 27, 2022
Rams Should Have Upper Hand In QB Battle: Matt Stafford Was Brought To L.A. For This Moment
While the Niners have advanced to the NFC Championship game in spite of the play of QB Jimmy Garoppolo, the Rams have gotten All-Pro work from Matt Stafford. Stafford has passed for 568 yards, four touchdowns and zero interceptions in the first two playoff wins of his 13-year career.
9️⃣ TO 1️⃣0️⃣ TO SET UP THE WIN! pic.twitter.com/1hrjkOa4lQ
— Los Angeles Rams (@RamsNFL) January 23, 2022
In his first season with the Rams after spending 12 wasting away in Detroit, Stafford passed for 4,896 yards, 41 touchdowns and a league-high 17 interceptions. After throwing just four picks through the first two months of the season, Stafford had a propensity to toss them in November, December and January.
His numbers in the playoffs show that he’s cleaned up his erratic throwing and hopes to avoid the disaster ball. Stafford led the league with four pick-sixes and he is tied for the fourth most in league history with 27. Brett Favre is first on the pick six list. He threw 31 of those clunkers.
If Stafford plays smart and avoids mistakes like this …
#Rams were up 17-0.
Garoppolo threw a pick.#49ers then scored 17 points unanswered to tie it.#Rams get it back, Matthew Stafford throws a pick.pic.twitter.com/Ji31mdofBw
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) January 9, 2022
The Rams should be in good and in great position to host Super Sunday.
Prediction: Rams 31, Niners 23
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