The Los Angeles Rams are preparing to use the silent count during this weekend's "home" game against the San Francisco 49ers. That's because the opposing fanbase, The Faithful, is expected to be well-represented at SoFi Stadium on Sunday. Yes, there will be Bay Area fans who travel to Southern California for the game. However, the number of 49ers fans that reside in the greater Los Angeles area makes things more complicated for the Rams.
"We definitely have the ability to utilize our silent count if need be," Rams head coach Sean McVay told reporters on Friday. "We'd rather be ready than caught off guard. And so, if that's the case, certainly our guys are ready to handle that."
49ers fans filling the seats at SoFi Stadium, as was the case during Week 18 last season and during the NFC Championship Game, will be a welcome sight for head coach Kyle Shanahan. Does he expect The Faithful to take over the Rams' home turf yet again?
"I still expect that, but we always work the silent count, regardless," Shanahan told NBC Sports Bay Area this week. "I know they're going to have fans there too, so you never know when they're going to be loud, so you're always ready for both. But yeah, I expect our fans to take it over. They've done it in the last two times we've played them, almost every time we've been in that stadium.
"I've seen teams have to use the silent count at home, but what was so unusual about that is, that NFC Championship and that last game, the whole stadium was red, and I had never seen that before. And you could feel it everywhere, and our team felt it, and I promise you that helps us."
Sunday's meeting between the 49ers and Rams will be the fourth this calendar year, including the two January matchups. The game may not be a mathematical must-win for the Niners, but falling to 3-5 on the season would complicate things.
"I feel we've lost at least two games that we really should have won, and you can't do that too much," Shanahan said. "So when you lose games that you should win, it puts a lot more pressure on the others. It's not a must-win game. I don't ever say that until you know you're [facing elimination].
"We've been in some holes before, but I'm not trying to dig one. And we're right there on the brink, and that's why I feel this is an extremely big one, no matter who we're playing, but when you make it the Rams, and you make it someone who's in our division, that makes it that much more [important]."