The Monday night matchup between the San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Rams is set to be a hotly contested game with huge implications for the NFC West standings. Despite their slight lead, the Rams are far from a lock to run away with the division, and depending on the outcomes of games played on Sunday, could need a win to stay in first place.
We chatted with Niners Wire editor Kyle Madson this week and asked for his assessment of San Francisco’s season at this juncture. Here are the answers he gave us:
Rams Wire: Who have been the 49ers most underrated contributors so far this year?
Kyle Madson: Typically I try to pick a player from each side of the ball here, but they haven’t really had many contributors on offense this year. So I’ll stick to the defensive side where DEs Samson Ebukam and Charles Omenihu have been excellent. Ebukam has 10 pressures and a sack through three weeks. Omenihu doesn’t have a sack, but he has generated eight pressures — third on the team behind Nick Bosa and Ebukam. CB Emmanuel Moseley has also been good. He’s been targeted 10 times and allowed seven catches for 91 yards, but 34 of those yards came on one catch and he’s yet to allow a TD while notching two pass breakups.
Rams Wire: Have the 49ers done anything new with their “Deebo Packages” in 2022?
Kyle Madson:Nothing noticeable. In fact, that’s been a big talking point this week as the 49ers try to iron out their struggling offense. Samuel already has 29 touches through three weeks, which is five more than he had at this point last year. His effectiveness has waned a lot though. Whether it’s a product of execution or design is up for debate, but head coach Kyle Shanahan has to start doing something more drastic because the Deebo stuff just isn’t working.
Rams Wire: How did the offense operate differently with Trey Lance than it did with Jimmy G?
Rams Wire: Which injuries will play the biggest role on the 49ers side?
Kyle Madson: Until Week 3 the 49ers were largely capable of withstanding the injuries they’d sustained. Then LT Trent Williams got hurt and suddenly withstanding injuries became a problem. It’s impossible to replace Williams on a snap-by-snap basis, but the 49ers may not even have an adequate backup. 2020 fifth-round pick Colton McKivitz figures to be the starter in Williams’ stead, but he’s not been great in past starting opportunities. Ideally McKivitz would be a quality starter, but the 49ers would take even just an average performance and call it a huge win.
Rams Wire: Who is excelling most in the pass rush?
Kyle Madson: It’s Nick Bosa (16 pressures, 4.0 sacks, 7 QB hits). No additional notes.
