There is no doubt that when it comes to the Los Angeles Rams, the benchmark for fans is always, “be better than the 49ers.” When it comes to rivalries in the NFL, Rams-49ers is certainly right near the top
with Cowboys-Eagles, Browns-Steelers, and Packers-Bears. These are two teams that have played 154 times and reached its height in the 1970s and included their meeting in the 1989 NFC Championship Game.
However, after the Rams moved to St. Louis and division realignment, the importance of these games has certainly shifted. While they played in the 2021 NFC Championship game, it was the first playoff game between the two teams since they played each other in the same game in 1989. When it comes to ‘big games’, the Rams and 49ers simply have not played in many of them.
The same cannot be said about the Rams and Seahawks. While the Seahawks only joined the NFC West after realignment, they’ve consistently been involved in big games with the Rams. In 2004, with an 8-8 record, the Rams stopped the Seahawks inside the five-yard line on Wild Card Weekend in Seattle to beat them for the third time that season. With the NFC West on the line in 2010 in a Week 17 finale in primetime, the Seahawks beat the Rams with ‘Touchdown Jesus’ Charlie Whitehurst at quarterback.
While the Seahawks were at their height in the mid-2010s, the Rams won five of six meetings between 2014 and 2016. One of those wins was the Rams’ first game back in Los Angeles. The Seahawks won the NFC West in 2020 only to lose to the Rams and Jared Goff with a hurt thumb in the Wild Card round. Last year, the Rams edged the Seahawks for the NFC West title due to a ‘strength of victory’ tiebreaker.
Now, in Week 11 of the 2025 season, both teams are 7-2 and are playing in arguably the biggest game of the regular season up to this point. The Rams and 49ers haven’t played a regular-season game of this magnitude in decades. In fact, the biggest regular season game between these two teams in recent memory was in Week 18 of 2021. However, despite losing, the Rams still won the NFC West because the Arizona Cardinals also lost to the Seahawks.
Again, for Rams fans that live in California, there is a certain level of dislike for the 49ers due to geographic proximity. The 49ers’ fanbase consistently takes over SoFi Stadium every season. Many Rams fans are also LA Dodgers fans who have a big rivalry with the San Francisco Giants. Additionally, the older demographic of the Rams fanbase grew up in the 70s and 80s when the rivalry was at its highest. They experienced the 49ers dynasty and 17-game win streak in the 90s. That is all valid.
However, a team’s biggest rival should be the team that they consistently see in big games. To put it simply, that hasn’t been the 49ers, outside of the 2021 NFC Championship game. Again, that was also the first ‘big game’ between the Rams and 49ers in decades.
When the Rams beat the Seahawks, 42-7, in Week 15 of the 2017 season it felt like a changing of the guard. The Rams didn’t punt a single time in that game, while Todd Gurley rushed for 152 yards and three touchdowns. One week later, the Rams clinched their first NFC West title since 2003. Prior to 2017, the Seahawks had won three NFC West titles in four years. Since that game, the Rams have four NFC West titles to the Seahawks’ one.
This isn’t to say that the Rams and 49ers don’t have a historical rivalry. However, in the here and now and for the past 20 years, the Rams and Seahawks’ rivalry has been the more interesting one. It’s been the matchup that’s consistently had the bigger games that have meant more.
As much as the Rams-49ers rivalry has been renewed since the move to Los Angeles, the rivalry with the Seahawks hasn’t gone anywhere. With both teams as the class of the NFC West in 2025 and two young rosters, it appears that this rivalry is here to stay.
