The Los Angeles Rams will be hosting a familiar foe in the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship Game for a chance to advance to the Super Bowl. Given how both teams operate, the matchup between the Rams offense and the 49ers defense is going to be crucial in Sunday’s contest.
With Sean McVay looking to overcome his recent woes against the 49ers, the now 36-year-old head coach didn’t hesitate to give props to San Francisco’s defense ahead of the NFC title game.
“They do a great job. They have excellent personnel. They’re really well-coached. You can see they can do an excellent job of applying pressure with a four-man rush. There’s a real buy-in and a commitment to a philosophy,” McVay said. “The way that they play with their front four, I think (D-line coach) Kris Kocurek does an outstanding job with those guys. And then they’ve got great personnel. They’ve got great speed on the second level. I think (4Fred) Warner’s one of the best players in this league, especially at that position. And then they’re excellent on the back end. They really sound. They do a great job. All 11 tackle on this defense. I think Jimmie Ward’s a phenomenal player. Obviously, (Nick) Bosa and (Arik) Armstead have been outstanding. I’ve been really impressed with what Samson’s (Ebukam) done, (D.J.) Jones on the interior. So, they’ve got great players. They’ve got a great scheme. They’re really sound and they play with a relentless, fanatical effort every single snap. And you can see there’s a real commitment to a philosophy and you earn every yard you get against them.”
Robert Saleh was the defensive coordinator of the 49ers from 2017-2020, producing a top-six DVOA defense in each of his final two seasons. After Saleh left to become the head coach of the New York Jets this season, Demeco Ryans was promoted to defensive coordinator, and San Francisco’s defense hasn’t had any dropoff whatsoever.
The 49ers finished with the No. 7 ranked defense in DVOA in 2021 thanks to the likes of Nick Bosa, Fred Warner, D.J. Jones, and Jimmie Ward. In the first two meetings between the 49ers and the Rams this season, Matthew Stafford threw four interceptions and was sacked seven times.
Defeating San Francisco has seemed like an impossible task for the Rams in recent years, as they’ve lost six straight games to their division rivals. If the Rams want to be playing in front of their home crowd in Super Bowl LVI, McVay understands that they’ll need to avoid making costly mistakes against a talented defense in the 49ers.
