The San Francisco 49ers haven't been underdogs in a regular-season matchup since their Week 14 game against the New Orleans Saints last season. They haven't been underdogs in an NFC West matchup since Week 6 of the same season, when they faced the Los Angeles Rams.
The 49ers face the Rams this coming weekend and are limping into the more challenging part of their schedule. The first five games of the season, considered to be the easier portion of the schedule, produced just two wins, and the defending NFC champions sit at the bottom of the division.
San Francisco is coming off an embarrassing 43-17 home defeat against the Miami Dolphins.
The Rams, meanwhile, are 4-1 and coming off a 30-10 victory over Washington. They opened the week as three-point favorites over the home-team 49ers, according to BetMGM.
With the season unraveling and the team's Super Bowl hopes diminishing with each defeat, the 49ers hope to remain focused on the week ahead.
"It's easy to look at the rest of the season as a whole, and just think, Wow, we need to win 11 games in a row to match our record from last year," said fullback Kyle Juszczyk after Sunday's loss. "It's just the wrong mindset to have. You really just have to break it up week by week, and just look at it one single game at a time. If you do that, it just doesn't seem so overwhelming.
"If we really look at it, we just have to go beat the Rams next week. That's my advice that I've given out to the guys for this next week."
The players know they have to regroup and get better if they hope to fight for a playoff spot. Another outing like the one against the Dolphins would be disastrous for Kyle Shanahan's squad.
Who will be the head coach's starting quarterback for Sunday night's game against the Rams? Jimmy Garoppolo, who was clearly affected by his ankle injury, wouldn't commit to starting after his poor outing. He was just 7-of-17 for 77 yards with two interceptions and a passer rating of 15.7 against Miami.
"I really haven't thought that far ahead," Garoppolo told reporters after Sunday's loss. "I guess we'll just take it day by day with the ankle and see how it goes."
The 49ers and Rams are scheduled to kick off on Sunday at 5:20 p.m. from Levi's Stadium.
