49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo biggest threat for LA Rams

When you are looking for the LA Rams to return to the Super Bowl and lift another Lombardi Trophy, a lot has to break right. For the LA Rams, the one team who likely poses the biggest threat to that scenario is the San Francisco 49ers. They are the NFC West Division rivals who play their best games against the Rams, regardless of their record.

However, that is if Niners quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo is under center for the 2022 season. If he’s not, and a new second-year projected quarterback, Trey Lance is, then the path for the Rams gets much easier.

With Jimmy G taking the snaps in San Francisco, the 49ers have gone to two of the most recent NFC Championship games and made an appearance in Super Bowl LIV, losing to the Kansas City Chiefs 31-20.

The Rams did not have an easy time against the Niners in 2021. In fact, San Francisco was 2-1, posting wins in Week-10 at home 31-10, and in LA Week-18 by a final score of 27-24 in overtime. It wasn’t until the NFC Championship Game that the Rams finally found the win column with a 20-17 victory, launching a run to the Super Bowl.

LA Rams NFC rival was obsessed with trading Garoppolo

It’s hard to understand why the 49ers would want to move on from the quarterback who has had a lot of success. While he lost his only Super Bowl appearance against the Chiefs, he’s proven to be a winner. It’s even more bizarre to imagine a day when another NFC West Division rival, the Seattle Seahawks, might be playing Jimmy Garoppolo under center for their team.

In an interview on May 3 and updated on May 4, NBC Bay Area Sports published a story detailing how close San Francisco General Manager John Lynch and the organization came to trading away Garoppolo:

"“I felt like we were close in some discussions and then the decision was made to have surgery and that brought things to a screeching halt, people just don’t do that even with a likelihood that everything is going to be good,” Lynch said."

He would continue on to discuss the interest in their former starting quarterback.

"“We continue to get calls about Jimmy and one thing we as a group got together (and said) he’s too good of a player, he’s got a lot of good tape out there. You don’t just let guys like that walk out the door. We want to either have Jimmy playing for us which we’re all right with or we want him to get the value.”"

– Courtesy of Taylor Wirth, NBC Bay Area Sports.

Ultimately, all appearances are that Garoppolo will be the starting quarterback in 2022, but for which team? While he is a proven winner, he also has given the LA Rams all kinds of problems. His record against his primary foe in the NFC West bears that out.

The Rams will play the 49ers twice in a four-week stretch. They will face them in Week 4 in San Francisco on October 3, 2022, at 5:15 pm PT, and again in Week 8 in Los Angeles on October 30, 2022, at 1:25 pm PT.

Will the LA Rams face quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo on those dates? Stay tuned . . .