Which NFC West team poses the biggest threat against the Rams winning the Super Bowl?

What a strange last decade it has been for the San Francisco 49ers.

The 49ers made the playoffs with a 13-3 record in 2011, nine years after they had last posted a winning record. Jim Harbaugh would help lead San Francisco to the NFC Championship game in each of his first three years as head coach, including a Super Bowl defeat to his brother in the Super Bowl, but year four would be his final campaign in the NFL.

The Niners would have to wait five years between winning seasons, finally going 13-3 again during Kyle Shanahan’s third year as the successor to the successor to the successor of Harbaugh. But as of their 6-10 record in 2020, the 49ers have only posted four winning campaigns over the last 18 seasons.

Yet the Niners have also reached two Super Bowls in the last nine years and most of us do believe that San Francisco will revert back to their 13-3 (or 14-3 or 13-4) ways in 2021.

Before this season, I sent three questions about the LA Rams to 11 people who cover the team and today’s question is simple:

Which team in the NFC West do you think poses the biggest threat against the Rams winning the Super Bowl?

The answer was even easier than the question: 11 out of 11 people chose the 49ers over the Seattle Seahawks or Arizona Cardinals.

Here are the answers from our panel of Rams experts:

Without a doubt it’s the team the Rams can’t figure out how to beat and that is the San Francisco 49ers. They are healthy now and have the best QB from the 2021 draft Trey Lance in my mind. They became another level of scary.

It’s tough to not say Seattle, but with the 49ers returning to health, I think they could be the toughest matchup.

49ers

49ers

49ers

49ers

49ers. No matter how injury riddled they are, they have our number.

49ers. Coach Kyle is the biggest challenge for McVay.

Easily San Francisco 49ers. It shouldn’t even be up for discussion. LA hasn’t even found a way to beat them with a quarter of their team on injured reserve. One of the few teams who “out physical” the Rams.

San Francisco. Until McVay figures out Shanahan, it’s not even a question. Plus, that roster is stacked and Jimmy G is damn good when he’s healthy.

The 49ers. That defense is legit.

Check out yesterday’s question too: Which player are you most excited to see on the Rams this year?