The Kyle Shanahan-led San Francisco 49ers continue to be winless as they head into a week of preparation for their Week 5 opponent – the Indianapolis Colts. Shockingly, the Sean McVay-led Los Angeles Rams are sitting atop the NFC West with a record of 3-1. Both teams feature rookie head coaches. Both of those coaches are considered to be among the most brilliant young offensive minds in the league.
The Rams had scored more points (142) than any other team in the NFL. The next-closest team is the New England Patriots (129). Meanwhile, the 49ers have failed to score a single touchdown in three of their four games and rank 26th in scoring. Brian Hoyer's passer rating of 67.9 ranks 31st among NFL quarterbacks with at least 30 pass attempts.
While Los Angeles rolls, San Francisco continues to stumble after losing its third straight game by three points or fewer. Some fans have already begun to criticize the 49ers coaching while others are calling for Hoyer to be benched in favor of rookie C.J. Beathard – and it has only been four weeks.
On January 9, the 49ers actually interviewed McVay for their vacant head coach job. Mike Silver of NFL Network reported that McVay "crushed" his interviews with the 49ers and Rams. Both teams left impressed with the young offensive mind. However, the 49ers had their sights set on Shanahan (among others) and were willing to wait out his season with the Atlanta Falcons. Three days after meeting with the 49ers, McVay was hired by the Rams to be their new head coach.
While the 49ers lost a Week 4 matchup in overtime to the Arizona Cardinals, the Rams pulled off an upset victory against the Dallas Cowboys.
NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport joined the "Murph & Mac" show on Monday morning and was asked if the 49ers missed out on McVay.
"The Rams have much better players than the 49ers," said Rapoport. "I think that is very, very true. I'm not saying that the 49ers are going to be behind forever or whatever but the Rams have better players. They have better personnel at defense. They have a good defensive line. They have some great linebackers. They have some really good players in the secondary. Two solid outside receivers in Sammy [Watkins] and Robert Woods. They have an elite running back. They have a really good quarterback. They have a lot better players.
"I have a hard time imagining Sean McVay would be doing this if he was the 49ers' coach. To me, the coaches seem comparable. It's just – Sean's situation was much different. And – how should I say this? The coach [Jeff Fisher] who McVay took over for did a lot worse. You know? Really brought everyone down and it's really the perfect storm that McVay took over and as far as coming in and making that team viable."
You can listen to the entire interview with Rapoport below.