Friday, Jan 28, 2022. 5:11 PM
Don’t miss the game between the 49ers and the Rams, Sunday at 6:30 p.m., on RDS2 and RDS Direct.
PRE-MATCH | ANALYSIS BY PIERRE VERCHEVAL
INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Aaron Donald has been in the NFL long enough to know he might never get a chance like that one day. And so are the many star players around him at the Los Angeles Rams.
Well into his eighth NFL season as the best defensive lineman of his generation, Donald has amassed an impressive collection of individual honors, but he’s still chasing group success.
The Rams (14-5) have made several bold moves this season to build a winning team around Donald. However, here they are a single victory from a participation in the Super Bowl, in their home of SoFi Stadium on February 13, while they will face the 49ers of San Francisco (12-7), this Sunday, in this same enclosure. .
“I feel like I’ve accomplished a lot in a short time in this league,” said Donald, a seven-time All-Star and three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year winner.
“All I miss is the title of world champion. To get to this point, we have to win this week. »
After crying on the sidelines last January when the Rams’ season ended in Green Bay, Donald is determined to take the penultimate step toward that final career goal.
And so are Matthew Stafford, Jalen Ramsey, Andrew Whitworth, Odell Beckham Jr., Cooper Kupp and many other Rams players whose impressive individual careers have yet to bring them a taste of a championship.
“There are so many teammates on my team that just need this,” said linebacker Von Miller, the Denver Broncos’ Super Bowl 50 MVP who joined the Rams in middle of the season.
“Aaron Donald, that’s all he needs, and he’s got it all, you know? Andrew Whitworth and Eric Weddle and all those guys; I want to do it for them. »
The Rams and 49ers will come to the field with identical strengths. Both teams deploy offenses that rely heavily on an all-star receiver (Kupp and Deebo Samuel, at the 49ers) and rely on defensive units built around specialists to pursue opposing quarterbacks.
However, if the Rams can’t end the 49ers’ frustrating dominance against them, all their maneuvering will be for naught.
The 49ers have won six straight games against the Rams, and little evidence from the two games between the two teams this season suggests that head coach Sean McVay is about to undo the imposing mental obstacle that separates him from his good friend, Kyle Shanahan.
Just three weeks ago, the 49ers erased a 17-point deficit to topple the Rams at SoFi Stadium and earn nothing less than a playoff berth.
In fact, the 49ers probably owe their entire season to their dominance of the Rams. They were 3-5 and going nowhere when they crushed Los Angeles in a game played in mid-November. It was the start of a nine-game winning streak in 11 games.
If the Rams lose again on Sunday, the disappointment will be huge. But Donald believes he and his teammates are ready for this challenge.
“This week it’s a different kind of football going on. This week, I tell myself that there is no way we are going to lose this match. We have to play for four quarters. We have to find a way to finish, and I know we will. »
