Will Rams’ defense finally hand Garoppolo first loss as starter?

Even though the starters aren’t playing, the Los Angeles Rams would still love to hand Jimmy Garoppolo his first loss as a starter.

In what turned out to be quite the exciting battle back in Week 3, the circumstances will be much different for the Los Angeles Rams, who won that game 41-39, and the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday when taking everything into consideration. While the Rams will be resting their starters since the NFC West is already locked up, the 49ers will be looking to end the season on a positive note by earning their fifth win in a row, all of which have been games started by Jimmy Garoppolo at quarterback.

During the first meeting between these division rivals, it was Brian Hoyer under center for San Francisco, and even though the veteran played well for the most part (23 of 37 for 332 yards with two touchdowns and an interception) in that contest, deep down he was never really the long-term answer. In fact, both parties knew the situation before the 2017 season even got underway, but when Garoppolo all of a sudden became available through a trade with the New England Patriots, the 49ers knew parting ways with Hoyer was a necessary move.

Early on, it seemed like a possibility that Garoppolo would end up resting this year since San Francisco’s season had been well over by the halfway point with just one win, but that whole approach quickly changed at the beginning of December when he ended up starting against the Chicago Bears. Even though the 49ers failed to score a single touchdown in that game, Garoppolo still did enough on offense to help the team pull off the win, and the best thing part is San Francisco hasn’t lost since, with their quarterback enjoying an impressive 4-0 record.

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What’s even more impressive is with two wins in two starts from last season with the Patriots, this means that Garoppolo has a perfect 6-0 record as a starter heading into Sunday’s regular-season finale against the Rams. Obviously, the competition would be a lot different if Los Angeles weren’t resting key starters, but when looking at how good some of the backups have looked at times throughout the 2017 season, Wade Phillips could see his unit play a key role in helping hand Garoppolo his first career loss while officially locking the No. 3 seed up for the Rams.