Los Angeles Rams 48, San Francisco 49ers 31: Bye!

The Los Angeles Rams beat the gold off the San Francisco 49ers’ uniforms today, 48-31. In so doing, they secured the #2 seed in the NFC playoffs ensuring they’ll enjoy the first-round bye and skip the wild card round. That time off could prove crucial for RB Todd Gurley and S Lamarcus Joyner who both missed out today as well as LT Andrew Whitworth who knocked his knee during the game and was held out thereafter.

The game was put out of hand early thanks to four turnovers from the 49ers off of which the Rams scored 21 points. They cruised thereafter thanks to some efficient work from QB Jared Goff and the general superiority of the Rams’ roster matchups. The offensive line did a fine job keeping Goff clean as he wasn’t sacked once. And yet again, they provided more than sufficient room for RB C.J. Anderson to rack up long runs.

Defensively, it was a solid showing given how often the defense was pressed into action because of the offensive outputs. Aside from the turnovers, the Rams did a fine job getting pressure in the passing game. Sadly, DL Aaron Donald didn’t pick up the sack record with just one such metric, but he remains superhuman nonetheless. As per usual, the run game was an issue, but it has been all season and perfection is rare.

Of course this was a bit of a secondhand game. What mattered was setting up for the playoffs and because the Rams handled business, that’s where all eyes turn.

One week off before the turn up.

Get ready, Rams fans...