WEEK FIVE CRYSTAL BALL - THURSDAY: A Rivalry - and Friendship - Renewed
Published continually since 1994
My friends, THE GURU knows a good matchup when he sees one - who can forget MARCELO THE MAGNIFICENT vs. wings at 3rd Street Chicken & Ribs in 1991? - and tonight could be a doozy.
Indeed, we’ve got two NFC West stalwarts going at it with the Niners (3-1, 2-0 away) visiting the Rams (3-1, 2-0 home). San Francisco and LA. Shanahan against McVay. Rice-A-Roni vs. In-and-Out.
You’ll recall that Shanahan and McVay served together under Mike Shanahan in Washington from 2010-2013, where they were joined at the hip with Kyle running the offense and Sean coaching the tight ends. Others on the staff for all or part of those years: current NFL head coaches Matt LaFleur, Mike McDaniel and Raheem Morris.
Folks, that crew is as loaded as BATTLESHIP BARTELLE’S shopping cart at the Entenmann’s outlet1. And that doesn’t even include guys like former NFL head coach Jim Haslett, former Texans offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik, Niners offensive line coach Chris Foerster, and legendary running backs coach Bobby Turner.
Shifting gears to the game at hand, the Niners lead the all-time series against the Rams to the tune of 78-71-3 and San Fran is 10-7 since Shanny and Sean got their head-coaching gigs in 2017. Still, McVay captured the biggest victory, winning the 2021 NFC Championship game against his friend and rival. In fact, he’s on a three-game win streak vs the Niners entering tonight.
That said, when these teams square off at SoFi, it’s not necessarily a legit home-field advantage for the Rams. In fact, Niners fans routinely turn the venue into a sea of red, something McVay blames on his late grandfather, former Niners general manager John McVay, the man who worked hand-in-hand with the legendary Bill Walsh to build that organization’s championship culture in the 1980s and ‘90s.
The Niners have won five of their last six road games in this rivalry, but Shanny’s crew is dealing with an injury bug that bites with a vengeance, taking FATBACK-sized chunks out of San Fran’s roster. On the shelf for the visitors tonight: quarterback Brock Purdy (toe), receivers Ricky Pearsall (knee) and Jauan Jennings (ankle/rib), tight end George Kittle (hammy), and defensive end Nick Bosa, out for the year with a torn ACL. A laundry list of bad news.
On the flip side, the Rams are largely healthy and that should make a difference when the teams kick off at 8:15 pm ET on Amazon Prime. Call it LA, 23-17.
The Week Four record was 10-6 (.625), improving the season record to 36-28 (.563). Enjoy the game, folks, and God bless!
Crumb cakes, doughnuts, cookies and miniature muffins. Mine eyes and have seen the glory and my body has consumed it.