Call me a glutton for punishment, I guess, but despite recent trends in this rivalry, I cannot shy away from the Rams in this spot. Los Angeles is getting some reinforcements back, including starting cornerback Troy Hill. More importantly, though, Sean McVay is coming off the bye with an extra week to prepare for Kyle Shanahan, who has dominated him head-to-head. While the Rams defense leaves something to be desired, it is strong against the run. Jimmy Garoppolo on the other side is not a threat in the passing game, particularly given Deebo Samuel, who dominated this Week 4 matchup, will be sidelined. The Rams should be favored.

The 49ers have covered six straight against the Rams, including a 24-9 win at San Francisco on October 3. One more week with Christian McCaffrey and a lot of humility after getting beat down in the second half against the Chiefs last week. It sets up nicely for the 49ers in this spot. And they’re going to have 70% of the fans in the stands at Los Angeles. The 49ers have the better defense and a head coach in Kyle Shanahan that appears to know what Rams coach Sean McVay will do before the play is called. 49ers to cover.

The Rams roll into this key NFC West meeting off a bye, and though they've had the chance to get healthy, I'm not sure health is what's holding back their offensive line. I expect the 49ers to take out their frustrations with how the Chiefs game went on that Rams OL, and I don't think we see many points from a one-dimensional Rams offense against one of the best defenses in the league. The Rams were unable to stop Christian McCaffrey the last time they played (though they still beat Carolina comfortably), and they'll have more to contend with in this offense. You don't need much of an excuse to back Kyle Shanahan vs. Sean McVay, but take out that history and it's the right play anyway.

Bit of a puzzling total as these teams combined for 33 points in Week 4 and 37 in the NFC Championship Game. The Under is a whopping 17-5 in Rams home games since they debuted at SoFi Stadium in 2020, and LA's past four games overall haven't even seen 35 total points scored. Not sure coming out of a bye week will change that much for the defending champs.