St. Louis Rams Vs. San Francisco 49ers: Ramblin’ Fan’s Q&A With Niner Noise

November 11, 2012; San Francisco, CA, USA; St. Louis Rams wide receiver Austin Pettis (18) catches a touchdown pass against the San Francisco 49ers during the fourth quarter at Candlestick Park. The 49ers and the Rams tied 24-24. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-US PRESSWIRE

Over the next 48 hours, we will know a lot about both the St. Louis Rams and the San Francisco 49ers. This is easily the Rams biggest game of the season, with a win keeping their very slim playoff hopes alive. It will also be a chance to showcase themselves to the world, by taking on, arguably, the top rated defense for the second time in 4 weeks and potentially walking away without a loss. There is a lot of talk within the NFC West, especially between the fans, about Sunday’s game. So, Ramblin’ Fan decided to join in the fun with a quick Q and A session with the boys over at Niner Noise, the San Francisco 49ers page within the Fansided.com network. Here is what they had to say…

Q: Kaepernick and Smith managed only 158 yards through the air, and converted on only 2 of 11 3rd down tries in Week 10. What changes will the 49ers coaching staff make improve both of those numbers? 

"I don’t think the 49ers will make many changes to what they do.  The game against the Rams was one of the worst performances of the season by the Niners and I look at it more as an off week than something the team needs to make major adjustments.  The 49ers will do what they do and run the football, spread the ball around and get Kaepernick outside the pocket, picking and choosing when to take their shots down the field."

Q: Sam Bradford completed over 66% of this passing attempts for 275 yards and a touchdown against the San Francisco 49ers’ secondary, all without Chris Givens in the lineup. If Bradford has his full arsenal of weaponry on the outside, what adjustment will the defense have to make to stop the passing game?

"Bradford exposed the biggest weakness in the 49ers defense and that’s covering a quick and shifty wide out.  Amendola gave the Niners fits and that opened up a lot of things in the passing game.  The Niners also did a bad job of tackling in week 10 which is extremely uncharacteristic of the leagues top defense.  The biggest adjustment you will probably see is someone else moving in the slot to cover Amendola if he does in fact play.  He burned Carlos Rogers all game long in week 10, look for someone like Chris Culliver who has more speed to take on that assignment."

Q: Aldon Smith has been limited at practice this week nursing an apparent shoulder injury. With Smith accounting for nearly 58% of San Francisco’s sacks this season, how will the defense get pressure on Bradford if he isn’t full strength? 

"Aldon is fine and team insiders have pointed to him starting  and playing his normal amount of snaps this week.  While Aldon gets the lions share of the sacks Justin Smith is the real engine that keeps this front seven together and Ahmad Brooks had a fantastic week against the Saints.  Vic Fangio called a pretty aggressive game against both the Bears and Saints with blitz packages and different personnel schemes that we hadn’t seem too much of this season and I expect that to continue."

Q: Janoris Jenkins and Chris Givens, who are arguably two of the most dynamic player on the team, were both benched against the 49ers for violating team rules. How will their presence in the game effect the San Francisco game plan, especially after Jenkins two pick-6 night last week against another young quarterback?

"I’ll say this, I love Jenkins but I’m not too worried about the Rams taking that much away considering how little they have created turnovers this season.  Kaepernick is young but he’s also in an offense that takes care of it’s QB with a fantastic offensive line, a great running game and weapons all over the field in a system that doesn’t ask the QB to do too much."

Q: Prediction…

"The 49ers have looked great the last couple of weeks and one of the best teams in the league is actually better with Kaepernick at the helm.  To those that haven’t watched this team week in and week out I understand the move away from Alex Smith at this point in the season seems like a head scratcher but the fact is that he makes the offense so much more dynamic and dangerous.  I like the 49ers to win big here.  The Rams are definitely a team I respect and I really like Jeff Fischer as a coach but no way the Niners allow another game against a sub .500 team to slip away without a win.  49ers 28 Rams 10"