With the Green Bay Packers at 2-1-1, it’s probably time to start paying attention to the other top teams in the NFC and how their success, or failure, will impact the Packers’ playoff standing.
As of this second, the Packers would be the seventh seed in the NFC, but one of the San Francisco 49ers or Los Angeles Rams, who are tonight’s matchup on Thursday Night Football, SHOULD lose today. As we all learned last week, ties are very much a possibility in the NFL.
At the moment, the 49ers and Rams are
in a five-way tie for second place in the NFC, only behind the undefeated Philadelphia Eagles. The other 3-1 teams in the NFC are the Detroit Lions, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Seattle Seahawks.
The Rams are favored in this one by over a touchdown, mostly because of the injuries that the 49ers have suffered. 11 players are on San Francisco’s injured reserve already, including tight end George Kittle and defensive end Nick Bosa. On top of that, two players are on the physically unable to perform list: starters Brandon Aiyuk (WR) and Malik Mustapha (S).
Quarterback Brock Purdy, 2024 first-round pick receiver Ricky Pearsall and starting receiver Jauan Jennings are also injured for this game. In place of Purdy, Mac Jones will start with Adrian Martinez, who was called up from the practice squad, serving as Jones’ backup.
The Rams, meanwhile, are mostly healthy.
The game will kick off at 7:15 pm CT on Amazon Prime.
