LA Rams will face 49ers McCaffrey but not Samuel, this week

The LA Rams need a win in Game 7. The San Francisco 49ers hold a seven-game regular season game-winning streak over the LA Rams. When you look at those two statements, you realize that something needs to give. Historically, that has typically been the Rams, somehow falling to the 49ers in ways that astounded, dumbfounded, and perplexed fans and pundits alike.

But history is not a constant. In fact, history tends to be more cyclical, weaving a path in one direction, and then doubling back and circling back in the other direction. So why raise that topic?  Historically, it has been the LA Rams who must compensate for unexpected injuries to key starters, while it has been the 49ers whose roster seems to heal simultaneously just in time for players to take the field to face the Rams.

While that is all great news for the LA Rams, there is more. The Rams will welcome back starting offensive center Brian Allen for the first time since Game 1. The Rams will also be happy to welcome back DB Cobie Durant.  So the offense is getting some help as well as the defense for this one.

Final Week 8 Injury report

What about this week’s final injury report? Well, The Athletic’s Rams beat report Jourdan Rodrigue shared the final injury report, and plenty of Rams are suiting up.

Meanwhile, it’s the 49ers who must deal with injuries. And the injuries are pretty significant in terms of starting players:

The Rams have a golden opportunity, but no sure thing, to win this one. Let’s go over the players who are out and cite how well they performed in Week 4:

Deebo Samuel:  Rushed two times for two yards, caught 6 of 7 passes for 115 yards and 1 TD
Kyle Juszczyk: Rushed one time for nine yards, caught 1 of 1 pass for 35 yards
Arik Armstead: Recorded 2 tackles and one tackle for a loss
Dre Greenlaw: Recorded 15 tackles and one tackle for a loss

But before anyone starts to bet on the Rams to win this one, keep in mind a few facts from the previous contest that still apply.

The LA Rams are not out of the woods just yet

For starters, the Rams’ offensive line will start its seventh version in seven games. While the team welcomes back starting offensive center Brian Allen, the Rams will field Alaric Jackson, Bobby Evans, Brian Allen, Oday Aboushi, and Rob Havenstein.  Just as an example, Aboushi is the Rams’ fourth starting right guard as the Rams prepare to play Game 7.

The LA Rams are still struggling to get any kind of running game consistency. Rookie RB Kyren Williams is not back, veteran RB Cam Akers is out, and the Rams released RB Jake Funk earlier in the season, and he opted to sign on with the New Orleans Saints practice squad. That means that the Rams will need to go with a combination of Darrell Henderson Jr. and Malcolm Brown.

The Rams’ defense is developing into a rather formidable force, powered by the dynamic duo of veteran ILB Bobby Wagner and his sidekick ILB Ernest Jones. They have combined to help the Rams rushing defense improve to a Top-10 rushing defense, and a Top-3 rushing defense in terms of rushing touchdowns allowed.

We claimed that the 49ers will approach this game with a desire to run the ball to death behind RB Christian McCaffrey.  With Deebo Samuel out for this one, we are even more convinced that McCaffrey will get plenty of work.

This news means that the Rams will not have to face a number of players who clobbered the Rams in their last matchup. But the Rams still need to show up and take care of business. That has not been the history between these two teams.

Ah, but history is cyclical. Perhaps finally, the pendulum is swinging in the LA Rams’ favor?