SANTA CLARA – Jauan Jennings’ three touchdowns staked the 49ers to a 21-7 lead the last time they met the Los Angeles Rams.
That hat trick, along with career highs of 11 catches and 175 yards, could not prevent a 27-24 collapse at SoFi Stadium three months ago.
Jennings was so disheartened he did not speak after the game. He also stayed mum after a 10-catch, 91-yard outing went for naught in last month’s home loss to Seattle.
Winning is paramount to Jennings, and after Sunday’s two-touchdown effort helped spark the 49ers to a 38-13 rout of the Chicago Bears, he noted it “felt great, felt like our old selves again.”
For the 49ers (6-7) to make their fifth playoff run in six seasons, they likely must win out, putting the onus on Jennings and others to stay hot tonight as the Rams (7-6) visit Levi’s Stadium.
1. COVER PUKA, KUPP
The Rams’ Matthew Stafford beat the 49ers in Week 3 without Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp. Since going 1-5 to open the season, they’ve gone 6-2, impacted greatly by the returns of Nacua and Kupp.
“It makes our job a lot harder so we’ve got to make sure we know where those guys are at all times,” linebacker Fred Warner said.
Which receiver to blanket is the 49ers’ stiffest pass-game challenge this season. The 49ers are allowing the league’s third-fewest passing yards (182.6 per game).
Nacua, who missed five games after a Week 1 knee injury, caught 12 of 14 targets for 162 yards and a touchdown in Sunday’s 44-42 win over Buffalo, also scoring on one of his five carries. In his second career game last year, he caught 15 of 20 targets for 147 yards in a loss to the 49ers. Kupp has been out the past three meetings with the 49ers, but he averaged 116.6 yards and scored four touchdowns in their previous five matchups.
2. KEEP PACE OFFENSIVELY
The 49ers are 18-0 (plus 2-0 in the playoffs) when scoring at least 30 points with Brock Purdy at quarterback, including his 2022 debut against the Bucs in place of Jimmy Garoppolo (now the Rams’ backup).
Another Thirty-for-Purdy outing could be in order to keep up with a Rams offense that just pinned 44 points on the Bills.
Said Purdy: “Obviously it would be nice to (score 30) every game. I don’t even know if that’s necessarily a goal for us, but our goal is to be the best we can be, and if we are, that’s the result.”
With questions swirling around the 49ers’ ever-injured running backs corps, Jennings and George Kittle could be tapped again to lead a touchdown barrage. Deebo Samuel wants in on that action and, while voicing that desire on social media created a stir, he has excelled in past games against the rival Rams.
The Rams, under first-year defensive coordinator Chris Shula, have allowed over 26 points in just three of 13 games. Rookies Braden Fiske and Byron Young are tied for the team lead with six sacks.
3. BETTER RUSHING PROWESS
The Rams have had the luxury of starting Kyren Williams every game and watching him already reach the 1,000-yard mark (1,013 yards, 12 touchdowns). He scored all three of their touchdowns in the Sept. 22 comeback over the 49ers as he totaled 116 yards from scrimmage.
The 49ers could be on their fifth-string running back in Patrick Taylor Jr. if Isaac Guerendo’s foot sprain foils his encore from last Sunday’s starting debut (78 rushing yards, 50 receiving yards, two touchdowns).
“I trust in whoever it is when it comes to the run game,” Purdy said. “In the pass game, we have a smart running back room where they know where to fit into blocks and give me time.”
Purdy acknowledged that missing Christian McCaffrey (knee) and Jordan Mason (ankle) “could always be a thing,” but he trusts in Guerendo, Taylor and Samuel as options. Guerendo downplayed his injury postgame Sunday and walked without an orthopedic support boot Tuesday.
4. RIDE HOT HAND
Jennings proved a mismatch against the Rams last time, when both Kittle and Samuel were out. For the past five games, Jennings settled into Aiyuk’s spot at split end, which comes with more targets and more work. “The main difference is my wind, going from playing 25 to 30 snaps, to 50 to 60 now,” said Jennings, who has adapted well from being a third-down specialist to a bona fide No. 1 target.
“J.J.’s (6-foot-3) frame and playing ‘X’ receiver, he fits the mold pretty well,” Purdy said. “… Anytime he’s in a one-on-one matchup, I can always give him a shot and a chance and he comes down with it.”
A 2020 seventh-round pick who thought he was first-round worthy, Jennings has worked his way up from the practice squad as a rookie and through injuries, while admiring Aiyuk and Samuel. “I remember telling Kyle when I first got here I wish it was an air attack with me, Deebo and Aiyuk. He just plays more two-receiver sets,” Jennings said. “In understanding the league, you appreciate what Deebo and Aiyuk have done in their career.”
In the 2021 regular-season finale, Jennings produced two touchdowns and 94 yards as the 49ers clinched a playoff berth with a win over the Rams. They need his heroics again.
5. SPECIAL TEAMS ALERT
Last meeting, the 49ers saw a fake punt coming and still didn’t stop it, but that wasn’t their death knell, nor was Jake Moody’s missed field-goal attempt from 55 yards. What finished off that Week 3 collapse was a 37-yard Rams punt return to set up the winning points.
All of which is to say the Rams already have proven capable of capitalizing on the 49ers’ season-long blunders on special teams. The latest gaffes were Moody’s maligned kickoffs Sunday that failed to reach the 20-yard line landing zone: “He just shanked two,” Shanahan said
This will be a homecoming of sorts for Rams kicker Josh Karty, an All-American at Stanford the previous two years. Karty won his first meeting against the 49ers by kicking a 37-yard game-winner in the final seconds.
Missing from the 49ers’ special teams will be one of their best players: George Odum, who went on injured reserve Saturday with a team-leading five tackles on special teams.
