The San Fransisco 49ers welcome the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday Night Football this week. The NFC West battle sees two teams facing very different problems. The 49ers are coming off a bad loss to the Dolphins that saw them give up 43 points. The Rams took care of business against the Washington Football Team.
In their loss to the Dolphins, the 49ers seemed to put injured Jimmy Garoppolo out there a bit too early. Even if he didn’t make his ankle injury much worse, he was pretty miserable on the field. He was 7 or 17 with two interceptions before being subbed off for C.J. Beathard. The Niners continue to signal that they’re hoping Jimmy will be ready for this game.
If there’s someone you don’t want your injured QB to return against, its Aaron Donald. The Rams defense was incredible against Washington. They netted eight team sacks on the day with Donald grabbing four of his own. Jared Goff did just enough and the running game was pretty efficient. Not the most dominate win, but a complete showing heading into their divisional matchup with the Niners.
TV Info
Date: Sunday, Oct. 18
Time: 8:20 p.m. ET
Channel: NBC
Broadcast map
Notable Statistical rankings (Football Outsiders)
Rams: #4 Overall — #4 offense, #8 defense, #29 special teams
49ers: #19 Overall — #24 offense, #11 defense, #13 special teams
DraftKings Sportsbook odds
Rams: -3.5, -175
49ers: +3.5, +150
Total: 51
Injury report
Rams
OUT: LB Ogbonnia Okoronkwo (elbow)
QUESTIONABLE: LB Micah Kiser (groin)
49ers
OUT: LB Kwon Alexander (ankle), CB Dontae Johnson (groin)
QUESTIONABLE: S Marcell Harris (ankle), CB Emmanuel Moseley (concussion), RB Jeffery Wilson (calf)
Fantasy football start/sit advice
Rams
Cooper Kupp, WR, $6,500
Kupp is having another solid year and should be an assumed started in a week wherein the 49ers continue to get some support in the secondary, but not enough. The threat of Kupp keeps defenses honest and his partner Robert Woods should take the load off.
Robert Woods, WR, $6,200
Like I said with Kupp, the Niners secondary is still beat up. The Rams should put up plenty of offensive production in this game. When the passing game is on for the Rams, Woods and Kupp are usually the beneficiaries. They should both be started this week.
49ers
Raheem Mostert, RB, $6,300
Mostert returned with a lovely game on limited action against Miami. The 49ers were down so fast they couldn’t afford to rely on the running game all that much. However, he’s expected to play once again and if he can build on his 11 rushes for 90 yards, he should be plenty productive.
George Kittle, TE, $6,800
Kittle had incredibly different back-to-back weeks. The San Fran tight end posted a massive game against the Eagles before laying an egg with half the targets from the week before against the Phins. Kittle’s productivity isn’t going to be consistent until the Niners QB situation is, and it seems like we may be in for another week of trying to throw out Jimmy G before he’s ready. Stay away from Kittle till we’re sure who’s throwing him the ball.