LA Rams beating the 49ers may depend entirely upon RB Cam Akers

Run all three RBs in this one

The LA Rams have a pretty solid stable of rushers named Cam Akers, Sony Michel, and if healthy, Darrell Henderson Jr. and they are all capable of a 100-yard rushing game. The trick is cycling through each running back to determine which ball carrier is apt to have the best day running with the football.

The 2021 version of Henderson is remarkably similar to the 2020 version of Henderson. He can get the Rams 600+ yards, a handful of touchdowns, and then the wear and tear on his body limits his usage. That happens on or about the 140 carry the mark, and he’s just over that mark now. Even as he is slated to return from injury, I just don’t know that he’ll make it back in time for this one.

Michel gave consistency, but he struggles against 49ers D

I love the running of RB Sony Michel. But in two games against the 49ers, he’s rushed 25 times for 63 yards. He’s a great option to use to give the offense a different ‘feel’ to the defense. He is a no-nonsense straight-ahead runner, but he is simply a better version of RB Malcolm Brown. Michel has gotten more work due to injuries, but he is a guy who needs 40 carries in a game to crack the 100-yard rushing mark on that 49ers’ defense.

Love it, like it, or loathe it, if the Rams are going to smack the 49ers around and advance to Super Bowl LVI, it will rest on the running of Cam Akers. In 2020, Akers rushed just nine times for 84 yards against the 49ers’ defense. While the Rams lost that one by a score of 23-20, you have to wonder if the Rams may have claimed a win if they had run Cam Akers more?