One Area the 49ers can Exploit Against the Rams in Week 6

This is it.

This is for all the marbles for the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday night against the Los Angeles Rams.

A loss to their division rivals will essentially sink their ship in the playoff race.

The 49ers are coming off arguably the worst loss since Kyle Shanahan took over as head coach. Now they have to pick themselves up and get mentally strong for a high-stakes matchup in primetime. It is going to be a tough outing for them as momentum is not on their side.

However, there is one area the 49ers can exploit against the Rams.

It is their defensive line against the Rams' offensive line.

San Francisco's defensive front as a whole is not having an ideal amount of pressures and sacks. That was to be expected with DeForest Buckner gone entering 2020, but even more so now that they are without Nick Bosa and Dee Ford. All of the pressures and sacks are coming from Arik Armstead and Kerry Hyder Jr. These two players will definitely make some noise on Sunday night, but it is also the perfect coming out party for Javon Kinlaw and company.

Kinlaw has shown a ton of promise in the early goings of the season. Now it is time for him to put it together with the 49ers' season hanging in the balance. His matchup against Rams' guard Austin Corbett, as my editor Grant Cohn would say, "is just a guy." I cannot agree with that statement more. This is Kinlaw's chance with the bright lights on and the entire nation watching.

Plus, Jared Goff is a statue. He can't move and the 49ers have not had the luxury of facing a stiff quarterback yet this season. Facing Goff and an average offensive line is going to feel so good for the 49ers.

There is one issue with getting to Goff. Through five games of the season, Goff has not faced immense pressure or hits that he was sustaining this time last year. Clearly, the Rams' offensive line has improved right?

Wrong.

The Rams are just stealing a page out of the 49ers' book from 2019 by utilizing a lot of quick passes, boots, counters, etc. Defensive coordinator Robert Saleh detailed on Thursday at his presser how the Rams have made it difficult to get pressure on Goff:

"They are so precise in what they do. It seems simple because you only see a couple of formations, but they've got little nuances within everything they do, whether it's run game, pass game, boot, play action, drop back, all of it. They do such a nice job of creating little wrinkles that keep you guessing all within a system that just seems so simple for their players because they execute at such a high level.

"They're very, very precise in what they do. They're always moving forward and they create very advantageous situations for themselves, which allows them to get the ball out of Goff’s hand very quickly."

Rams head coach Sean McVay has made major adjustments to operating his offense. It is on Saleh to adapt to how McVay is calling his offense, which he certainly can do. Saleh beautifully adjusted in the second-half of Week 16 against the Rams and McVay had no shot.

Lets not forget that the 49ers will have Emmanuel Moseley back out there for them in the starting lineup, so the pass rush will have stronger chances to get to Goff now that they have a more solidified secondary.

This is it for the 49ers on Sunday night. A win keeps their season on track as well as keeping their morale stable going forward.

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