Two 12-5 division heavyweights open the season a continent apart from where they ended it — both getting run off the field by Seattle in their last matchup with the Seahawks. Now it's San Francisco and Los Angeles renewing the rivalry with new toys on both sides.
Bush’s PicksPicks madeJul 7, 12:59 PM CT
+170SFLAR-195
-105SF +3.5LAR -3.5-108
-107Over 48.5Under 48.5-109
Best Bet49ers +170
San Francisco comes in at plus money on the road despite matching the Rams' 12-5 mark from a year ago, and that gap is mostly the market pricing in the Garrett trade. But the 49ers added their own difference-maker in Evans, and if Kittle and Bosa are truly full-go, this is a live dog worth grabbing at that number.
49ers
+Landed Mike Evans opposite Pearsall on a below-market deal
+Kittle says he's on track for Week 1 return
+McCaffrey healthy and wants the full workload again
−Aiyuk standoff leaves real dead weight in the receiver room
−Got run off the field 6-41 by Seattle to close last season
−Bosa and Guerendo both still working back from injury
Rams
+Traded for reigning DPOY Myles Garrett to anchor the defense
+Stafford re-upped on a fresh one-year extension with McVay
+Nacua and Adams give Stafford a stacked receiver duo
−Starting left tackle Jackson facing a felony domestic violence charge
−Dropped their last matchup with Seattle in a shootout
−Banking on a 38-year-old QB for another full-strength year
This one's a Week 1 measuring stick dressed up as a Thursday night showcase. Brock Purdy is the guy in San Francisco, but Mac Jones has been in the building all offseason as insurance, throwing at George Kittle's Tight End University event this summer while working through a sore shoulder of his own. Across the field, Matthew Stafford just signed a one-year, $55 million extension to keep running it back with Sean McVay, with rookie Ty Simpson brought in behind him as the eventual succession plan.
The Rams didn't stop at re-upping their quarterback. They pulled off the offseason's biggest defensive swing, trading for reigning Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett and sending Jared Verse and three picks back to Cleveland. San Francisco answered by luring Mike Evans away on a below-market deal to line up opposite Ricky Pearsall, giving Purdy — or whoever's throwing it — a real second option regardless of what happens with Brandon Aiyuk, who's dug in and refuses to reinstate off the reserve/left-squad list unless it's on his way to Washington.
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SF 49ers
LAR Rams
Both rosters spent the summer selling optimism. Kittle says he's "definitely on track" for Week 1 as he clears the Achilles injury, and Nick Bosa is telling anyone who'll listen that his knee will be ready for camp and the season. On the other sideline, Puka Nacua and Evans-counterpart Davante Adams remain locked in atop the Rams' receiver room. Christian McCaffrey, for his part, says he wants the touches, not a snap count — that's the workhorse both teams are counting on to keep the offense humming into the fall.
San Francisco 49ers
(0)
Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report
Los Angeles Rams
(0)
Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report
Injury report — info via ESPN.
Not everything is clean heading into September. Alaric Jackson, the Rams' starting left tackle, was arrested this summer on suspicion of felony domestic violence, and that's a real cloud over an offensive line that otherwise looked settled around Stafford. San Francisco's got its own uncertainty at receiver depth behind Evans and Pearsall with Aiyuk in permanent limbo and Jacob Cowing still working back from a hamstring. Neither team is walking into this opener at full strength, and how much that costs each side won't be clear until pads are popping.
San Francisco 49ers
Los Angeles Rams
Recent form.
Strip away the offseason additions and look at how each team actually finished: the 49ers dropped their final Seahawks matchup 6-41 after also losing to them 3-13 earlier in that stretch, while the Rams' last loss was a 27-31 shootout, also to Seattle. Whatever separates these two on Thursday, September 10, it's Seattle that both sides still have to catch — and this early-season tilt is as much about proving that gap is closing as it is about the win itself.
