A victory over the Los Angeles Rams capped off the San Francisco 49ers' five-game win streak to end last season. The 49ers finished the year as one of the hottest teams in the NFL. Of course, they had long been eliminated from postseason contention and were playing to build momentum heading into the offseason.

This year's squad is in a similar situation. It has won two of its last three games and nearly beat the Chicago Bears this past weekend. Like last year (and the many years that preceded it), there are no playoff hopes for the 49ers. Just hope for a strong finish, which would mean doing what last year's squad did — knocking off the Rams in Los Angeles during Week 17.


This year will be more of a challenge. The 49ers haven't had Jimmy Garoppolo since a Week 3 ACL injury ended his season, and the Rams won't be resting several of their starters as they did last year. A seemingly rusty Los Angeles team went on to lose to the Atlanta Falcons in the Wildcard round of the playoffs.

Rams head coach Sean McVay jumped on a conference call with Bay Area media on Wednesday and discussed the decision to rest key starters during that game last season against the 49ers.

"That was really just based on me learning some different things that we felt like was best," McVay said. "I don't think that's why we didn't win against Atlanta, but (with) every experience, you learn. You figure out how each situation would be handled based on your previous experiences. For us, we've got to get ready to go, and we can't afford to have any sort of a letdown. It's going to be a great challenge, and we have a whole lot of respect for the 49ers."

McVay and the Rams still have something to fight for in Week 17. They are still trying to clinch the No. 2 seed in the NFC, which would give them a first-round bye. A loss to the 49ers and a Bears win over the Minnesota Vikings would give Chicago that No. 2 seed.

San Francisco coming into the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and knocking off the Rams in Week 17 last year is still fresh in McVay's memory.


"That was a good football team right there," McVay continued. "They were rolling. Jimmy was playing really well there. They were hitting on all cylinders offensively. Their defense was playing at a high level. You could see the confidence grow as the season progressed, and the understanding of the system, and what they're trying to get done.

"To say that any loss isn't a humbling and tough experience, that wouldn't be accurate, but they came in here, and they won the game. They deserved to win it based on the way they played. It was impressive."

McVay knows the 49ers will be a tough division opponent for years to come as soon as everything comes together for head coach Kyle Shanahan and company.

"I think [their future] is outstanding, unfortunately for us, being in the division," McVay said. "I think (general manager) John (Lynch) and Kyle have done a great job building it the right way. I think they've identified the core pieces that they want to be able to build around and continue to supplement those guys with good players, draft well, if they decide to pursue guys in free agency.

"You can see there's a very clear-cut philosophy with how they want to operate. There's sound systems in place. Nothing but positives on this end and nothing but respect for those guys."

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