Los Angeles Rams, San Francisco 49ers set for historic clash in Week 6

December 9, 2001.

Nearly 18 years ago, the 9-2 St. Louis Rams and the 9-2 San Francisco 49ers met in Week 13 in the Dome at America’s Center for a crucial battle that would give one of these two an edge in the NFC West.

That was the last time these two franchises brought winning records into this historic rivalry.

Until Sunday.

This weekend in Week 6, the 3-2 Rams host the now 4-0 49ers who completely demolished the Cleveland Browns on Monday Night Football last night. Back in 2005, Sports Illustrated ranked this the #8 rivalry in all of the NFL, a ranking likely soured by the Niners’ dominance over it through the 1990s.

As a Rams fan of a certain age (see: old enough to be a TikTok dad), the Rams-Niners is it. The one. THE rivalry.

When the Niners inked QB Rivalry Carveapumpkin to a long-term deal back in 2018, our own Joey the Jerk wrote up the rivalry’s renewed intensity. That intensity petered out and failed to materialize with the injuries the Niners suffered that resulted in a tanked season. Perhaps to their ultimate long-term fortunes, that blessed them with a draft position much better than their roster quality deserved. Unlike the other teams in the top 6, the Niners’ depth chart wasn’t deprived of quality. Now, they’ve been catapulted into 2019 and the intensity of this rivalry has been renewed.

So get ready. This is it. The only two teams of the original NFC West left in the division. SoCal-NorCal.

Rams-49ers.

The way it’s supposed to be.