Los Angeles Rams: Why does Sean McVay’s side have a problem beating the San Francisco 49ers? | NFL News

Los Angeles have lost their last six-straight against San Francisco, with head coach Sean McVay triumphant in only three of 10 meetings against Kyle Shanahan; watch
the 49ers at the Rams in the NFC Championship Game, live on Sky Sports NFL from 11.30pm on Sunday

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A look back at San Francisco’s two regular-season wins over Los Angeles ahead of their clash on Sunday in the NFC Championship game

The Los Angeles Rams are built to win the Super Bowl. Literally.

This team has been constructed in the image of its Hollywood home, with numerous star names – Odell Beckham Jr., Von Miller, Matthew Stafford, Jalen Ramsey – added to their roster over the last few seasons, with the aim of maximising their Super Bowl window.

The Rams are firmly in ‘win now’ mode. The only problem is, they hadn’t accounted for the San Francisco 49ers standing in their way. For as much as the Rams are built to win, all they’ve done of late against the 49ers is lose.

San Francisco have won each of their last six matchups against their NFC West division rivals, with head coach Kyle Shanahan seemingly having the wood over his friend, and former colleague, Sean McVay – Shanahan has won seven of 10 since both arrived at their respective franchises in 2017.

Kyle Shanahan (R) has got the better of Sean McVay (L) in seven of their 10 meetings as a head coach

Asked this week if Shanahan and his successes had got in his head, McVay said: “No. What I do have is respect for these guys.”

McVay added, when speaking to reporters: “This is a really good football team. We have a lot of respect for them.

“We’re competing and preparing to the best of our ability to go out and see if we can advance.

“Kyle is an excellent coach. They’ve got great players, great coaches, good schemes. It’s why they’re in the NFC Championship.”

That recent 49er dominance over the Rams has generally been the product of them out-muscling L.A, particularly in the two teams’ first meeting in Week 10 of this season, a 31-10 hammering in which San Francisco racked up 156 rushing yards, dominated the time of possession 39 minutes to 21, and Jimmie Ward intercepted Stafford twice – one of which was a pick six.

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San Francisco 49ers safety Jimmie Ward picks off a pass thrown by Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford on the opening drive of their Week 10 clash.

Star-studded, yes, but were the Rams also a bit soft and guilty of believing their Hollywood hype?

Pro Football Talk‘s Chris Simms said of the Rams after the heavy defeat: “Out-coached, out-hit. and just too much ‘Hollywood’ c**p going on in L.A. right now.

“They’ve obviously been into their own headlines, on how great they were going to be and they got punched in the mouth.”

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Brian Baldinger and Dante Hall look at where things were going wrong for the star-studded Los Angeles Rams after three straight defeats midway through the season.

That first loss to San Francisco came in the midst of a mid-season three-game skid suffered by the Rams, but they quickly corrected course and won their next five to ensure they’d win the NFC West with victory over those very same 49ers on the final Sunday of the regular season.

This game played out differently, with the Rams racing out into a 17-0 second-quarter lead, seemingly exorcising their demons against their division rivals – and, in the process, eliminating them from playoff contention.

The 49ers had to win that Week 18 game in order to guarantee their postseason place, and so it looked bleak when Stafford and L.A. were driving down the field again looking for a touchdown that would take them 24-0 up going into the half-time break. But that’s when San Francisco struck.

Stafford threw his first pick of another double-interception display from the Rams QB and the 49ers instead scored a field goal to end the half. San Fran then started the second half with a touchdown drive and so the L.A. lead was swiftly cut to seven.

It kick-started a Niners comeback and by the time they came away 27-24 winners in overtime, they had outgained their opponents 449 yards to 265 on offense – Jimmy Garoppolo had 316 yards passing, Deebo Samuel 140 yards from scrimmage, Brandon Aiyuk 107 yards receiving and Juan Jennings a two-TD day – while the defense had those two picks of Stafford to go with five sacks.

The Rams missed their chance. An Arizona Cardinals loss to the Seattle Seahawks on the same day ensured they still clinched a division title, but this was their chance to see the back of San Francisco for good.

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Highlights of the San Francisco 49ers’ clash with the Green Bay Packers in the divisional round of the playoffs.

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Highlights of the Los Angeles Rams’ clash with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the divisional round of the playoffs.

Instead, here are the 49ers again, the only thing left standing between the Rams and their Super Bowl goal.

Can they finally end their 49ers hoodoo? Sunday at SoFi Stadium would be the perfect time for this Hollywood outfit to flip the script.

The NFL playoffs continue this weekend when the Kansas City Chiefs host the Cincinnati Bengals in the AFC Championship game live on Sky Sports NFL from 8pm Sunday, followed immediately after by the San Francisco 49ers at the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC Championship game at SoFi Stadium.