NFL
By: Joe Cardoso
Nothing better than the week after a victory, but in the NFL you can’t celebrate for long someone is always next. For the San Francisco 49ers an NFC West showdown with Los Angeles Rams who got a surprising win at Seattle last week. This is not the same Rams team that has broken the hearts of Niner fans over the years, but as we saw last week Matt Stafford is still a legit QB1 and the defense has a certain number 99 on it. It was a solid season opener and one that left half the league realizing this team is a contender, and the other half jumping off the Steelers bandwagon. And to add spice to the annual trip to “Levi’s South” the Niners are rocking the home red jerseys. And the invasion should be real and LOUD. But, let’s focus on the dudes in blue and yellow who stand in the way of a 2-0 start.
Offense:
It was quite the welcome back for Brock Purdy made plays and was almost mistake-free, with the rust shaken off he should be even better in this game. On the other side, this is a Rams defense that only gave up 180 total yards to the Seahawks. All eyes will be on the Derion Kendrick vs Brandon Aiyuk matchup, Aiyuk was on one last week and could become the 49ers’ sneaky WR1 with Deebo more of an all-around offensive weapon. Samuel and George Kittle will look to have a much bigger impact on things this week after being afterthoughts last week. And it was a subpar performance from Colton McKivitz going up against all-world edge rusher T.J. Watt so facing Michael Hoecht should even the odds a bit.
Aaron Donald had 2 sacks last week and the video of the week with mics picking up Geno Smith yelling Oh, My God when Donald came free right at him. Facing a better running game we will see if what L.A. did to the Seattle RB was real or just a lack of talent. CMC had that big run we all say but was steady overall and with 169 yards on 22 carries Eljaiah Mitchell didn’t do much with his limited opportunities expect a bounce back from him. If the O-Line is able to give Purdy time to find his targets this one could get ugly fast or be another back-alley brawl if he is under duress all game long.
Defense:
Last week Matthew Stafford had it easy and faced no real pressure from the Seahawks. That will not be the case against this Niners defense which picked up right where it left off with its effort versus the Steelers. Another week of practice for Nick Bosa who blew by his snap count and looked good in spots and will only improve. Hello, Drake Jackson who had a coming out party and will try and build off it. Shutting down the run game and forcing it to be a pass-heavy game favors San Francisco and the aggressive secondary. Cam Akers can’t be allowed to get running lanes and give the Rams balance. It’s the same formula with the Niners wanting to create pressure with its front 4 and not blitz too much. This is a clear advantage and should be the difference in a win or loss. I would love to see Stafford drop back 30-35 times and we can just tee off and cause chaos.
Overall this should be a San Francisco WIN too much firepower on both sides of the ball. Get the division win and start the march to another NFC West title can Brandon Aiyuk have another stellar performance and how much better will Bosa be this week two things I will have an eye on today. Make sure to keep up with Team NBS Media for even more NFL coverage. Let’s get this Win #NinerGang
