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To get you ready for week 11, FanHouse is previewing all 16 NFL games. Here is the St. Louis Rams/San Francisco 49ers preview.2007 Records:
St. Louis Rams: 1-8 (4th in NFC West)
San Francisco 49ers: 2-7 (3rd in NFC West)
Last Week:
Cowboys 31, Giants 20
Cardinals 31, Lions 21
Why We Care: Wait ... we care? Really? Well sorry, I've got nothing here. Maybe one of you can tell me why we care?
When the Rams have the ball: With a somewhat healthy offense -- with the 2007 Rams, you've got to readjust your concept of the term "healthy" -- the Rams came out and dismantled the Saints defense. Granted, that's not that tough against the New Orleans secondary (read: Jason David), but the Rams also posted 133 yards on the ground against the Saints' 13-ranked rush defense. The unit finally appeared to find itself, though a winless team coming off a bye had everything to play for, perhaps a one-time performance only. The last time (and only other time) the Rams scored over 30 points in a game this season, they followed it up with three. Luckily, the 49ers rank in the bottom 10 across the board on defense.
When the 49ers have the ball: Trent Dilfer is in, and Alex Smith (surprise!) was never right upon returning from his shoulder woes. Worse than that, though, is the miscommunication and trouble brewing between Smith and Mike Nolan. They're telling the media different things and contradicting each other, and Smith shut himself down for this game while Nolan was telling the press that Smith was experiencing nothing but mild soreness in the shoulder, and that it wasn't damaging his play. The relationship between Smith and Nolan is down to nothing, and it seems likely that one or the other will be gone for this season. The turbulence is nothing but bad for the 49ers locker room, and Dilfer is nothing but bad for the 49ers chances of winning. The Rams' rush defense is nothing to be impressed by, but they could put 11 in the box and I'm still not sure Dilfer could beat them. Frank Gore is going to be facing a lot of stacked defenses.
The Edge: The Rams are coming off of a win against what was one of the hottest teams in the NFL. They had a bye after beginning the season 0-8, got a chance to refresh and start anew, and kicked the second season off with a victory. Their playoff chances rest at about 100,000-to-1, and they're still a "very bad team" (Marc Bulger's words, not mine), but they're feeling good about themselves this week. The 49ers, on the other hand, are in disarray. Their attitude and morale are in the can, the coach and quarterback aren't getting along, no one likes the offensive coordinator, the defense has fallen apart after a sturdy start, and Gore's considerable talents are wasting away. They are in rapid decline mode, and look to be on the verge of crumbling for the rest of the year.
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