St. Louis Rams Week 9 Predictions Roundup: San Francisco 49ers

Oct 19, 2014; Denver, CO, USA; San Francisco 49ers running back Frank Gore (21) reacts on the bench late in the fourth quarter against the Denver Broncos at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. The Broncos defeated the 49ers 42-17. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

After a disappointing loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, where seemingly half of the Rams top remaining offensive talents got placed on IR, St. Louis will have to continue their treacherous stretch of games this week against the San Francisco 49ers. In their last bout, not so long ago, Austin Davis and Co. managed to get a jump on the division rivals, before eventually conceding that lead and, eventually, the win. However, Jeff Fisher has a decent record of matching up against Kaepernick, including going 1-0-1 versus his squad in the lone year Bradford has been healthy.

There isn’t much to suggest St. Louis will get any media love this week, especially considering the injuries and the fact that they are on the road. Either way, let’s see what the experts think…

NFL.com: 26-10, 49ers

"“Well you know the Rams are gonna win, because now they have Mark Barron.”— @ChristensenDrew, NFL stats maven.Spoken like a true Raider fan (which he is). As for the Rams’ trade with the Buccaneers to acquire Barron, St. Louis could use some quality safety play. Forget coverage duties; how about having an extra guy in the box to stop the run? (The Rams are allowing 144.3 yards per game.) Or how about a safety blitz? That St. Louis pass rush has six sacks on the year — a figure the group exceeded in two different games last season. I anticipate the host 49ers, who are coming off their bye, running right at the Rams, with a rested Frank Gore getting 15 to 20 carries and Carlos Hyde being sprinkled in. Which old 49ers receiver will make the big plays this week? Anquan Boldin? Steve Johnson? Brandon Lloyd? Iheanyi Uwaezuoke? Maybe Tai Streets? Unless Austin Davis goes for 350 yards and three scores against zero picks, I don’t see the Rams winning. #STLvsSF"

CBS Sports: 30-16, 49ers

"The Rams are really banged up now on offense, and that’s never a good thing going out to face the 49ers. San Francisco is coming off a bye, so they are rested. This will be ugly, just like the first meeting between the two."

Pro Football Talk: 24-20, 49ers; 27-20, 49ers

"MDS’s take: Looking ahead at the 49ers’ schedule, their path to the playoffs is not an easy one. These are the games the 49ers need to win if they’re going to be a playoff team. They’ll win this one.Florio’s take:  The 49ers are rested and motivated to keep up with the Cardinals, who are close to running away with the NFC West.  The Rams won’t be pushovers, but San Fran needs this one too badly to blow it."

Some sites prefer to merely throw out their picks, instead of outlining boldly predicted scores. In a unanimous vote, the USA Today went with the 49ers to pull out the victory on Sunday. In the Week 9 “expert picks” for ESPN, a grand total of zero out of 14 picked the St. Louis Rams to win. In CBS Sports’ “Against the Spread” predictions, only one of eight went with the “underdog” Rams, despite the 49ers being a massive 10.5 point favorite. However, with their “Straight Up” picks, the votes unanimously went back to 49ers, with all eight experts picking Kaepernick and Co. to win.