San Francisco 49ers at St. Louis Rams Line
The San Francisco 49ers (12-3) can lock up the No. 2 seed in the NFC playoffs with a win over the St. Louis Rams (2-13) Sunday.
Odds makers expect the 49ers to have little trouble securing a first-round bye in the playoffs, listing them as a 10.5-point favorite with the total set at 35.5.
San Francisco, which won 19-17 against the Seattle Seahawks last week, can also earn the No. 2 seed with a New Orleans Saints loss.
Alex Smith connected on 14 of 26 pass attempts for 179 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions in Seattle last week.
Michael Crabtree led the team with five receptions and 85 receiving yards.
Frank Gore led the way on the ground with 83 of the team’s 178 rushing yards and a touchdown.
The Rams 27-0 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers was their sixth consecutive defeat.
Kellen Clemens struggled against the Steelers’ top-notch defense, completing 9 of 24 passes for 91 yards.
Brandon Lloyd led the team with three receptions and 29 receiving yards.
The lone bright spot on offense was Steven Jackson, who rushed for 103 yards on 24 carries. That performance put Jackson over 1,000 yards rushing for a seventh straight season.
The 49ers have won six of the last seven in this series with the most recent being a 26-0 rout on Dec. 4. The Niners held the Rams to only 157 yards of offense in that game.
While a win over the 49ers would help a disappointing season sting a little less, the Rams may actually be able to benefit more from a loss. They can earn the No. 1 pick in the draft with a loss and a win by the Indianapolis Colts.
The Rams likely won’t have to tank this game to put themselves in position for the No. 1 pick. They have scored an NFL-low 15 touchdowns and face a San Francisco defense ranked No. 1 in the league with 13.5 points allowed per game.
The 49ers are an NFL-best 12-2-1 against the spread this season, and they are 4-0-1 against the number in their last five games as a favorite of 10.5 points or more.
The Rams are 1-5 against the spread in their last six games as an underdog of 10.5 points or more.
As far as the total is concerned, the under has been the play. These two have played to the under in eight of the last 11 matchups.
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