Six Points: Rams vs. 49ers
The St. Louis Rams saw their hopes for a postseason berth dashed weeks ago, but they have a chance to finish with a .500 record for the first time in nine years when they wind up the regular season with a visit to the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.
The Rams have recovered from a midseason swoon to win their last three games, including a 23-17 victory at the Seattle Seahawks last weekend. The 49ers, meanwhile, are stumbling to the finish line with three straight defeats and are trying to avoid their first 12-loss season since 2005.
St. Louis rolled to a 27-6 home win over San Francisco on Nov. 1 but proceeded to drop its next five games. That loss to the Rams led the 49ers to bench quarterback Colin Kaepernick in favor of Blaine Gabbert.
Here are three keys to the game for both the Rams and the 49ers.
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1. A heavy dose of Todd Gurley
Gurley rushed for 133 yards, including a 71-yard touchdown run, in the first meeting but has surpassed more than 100 yards only once in the eight games since. In what figures to be a low-scoring game between the league's two worst offenses, Gurley should receive a minimum of 20 carries to carry an offense that produced a mere 207 total yards in last week's victory at Seattle.
2. Pressure Blaine Gabbert
St. Louis finally succeeded in getting pressure from its edge rushers as defensive end William Hayes racked up three of the team's four sacks a week ago. A repeat performance from Hayes may be too much to ask, but given the 49ers' dearth of offensive weapons, bringing additional pressure is not much of a gamble. The Rams registered 13 hits on Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson.
3. Take some deep shots downfield
Although Case Keenum has directed St. Louis to three straight victories, he has failed to throw for more than 136 yards in three of his four starts. The Rams used two big plays - Gurley's 71-yard run and Tavon Austin's 66-yard TD on a wide receiver screen - to win the earlier meeting. The 49ers are vulnerable in the secondary, allowing quarterbacks to complete 69.1 percent of their passes.
1. Don't be so quick to abandon the run
Yes, San Francisco has lost its top four running backs, but it enjoyed great success with 122 rushing yards in the first half of last week's 32-17 loss at Detroit behind the tandem of newly signed DuJuan Harris and former Australian rugby star Jarryd Hayne. Inexplicably, the 49ers attempted only three runs in the second half despite trailing by only three points at halftime and six points through three quarters.
2. Manage the early downs better
Similar to St. Louis, the 49ers have been a disaster on third-down conversions and they continue to go in the wrong direction. San Francisco has converted 5-of-36 chances in such situations during its three-game skid and are ranked 31st overall - ahead of only the Rams. Gabbert has a penchant for dump-off passes on third-and-long and needs to mix in more of those on the early downs to keep his team in manageable situations.
3. Curb the mental mistakes
Last week, the 49ers committed a startling seven neutral-zone or offside penalties, including six in the first half alone when they appeared to have the Lions on the ropes. While coach Jim Tomsula termed those infractions "absolutely inexcusable," the bungling did not stop there. San Francisco also had two big returns wiped out by penalties and was victimized on a fake field goal.