Week 4 was a mixed bag for the NFC West, with the Arizona Cardinals and the San Francisco 49ers taking losses while the Seattle Seahawks narrowly eked out a win on Thursday Night Football, and the Los Angeles Rams made a statement against the then-undefeated Indianapolis Colts.
With another NFC West showdown officially on the books for Week 5, with the Rams and 49ers looking to decide which team will hold sole possession of first place – at least for a few days – all eyes will be on SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, for an early-season showdown with serious playoff implications.
After ripping off three early wins despite surfing injuries all over the field, including to Brock Purdy, Jauan Jennings, and a season-ending ACL tear for Nick Bosa, the 49ers' luck finally ran out in Week 4, when an angry Liam Coen made it his mission to take down San Fran after being called out earlier in the week by defensive coordinator Robert Saleh.
Falling behind early, the 49ers had a chance to get where they wanted to be with just under three minutes left in the fourth quarter, but when the Kyle Shanahan needed him to step up most, disaster struck Purdy when he was blasted by former 49ers first round pick Arik Armstead, who forced a fumble on the sack and gave the ball back to Jacksonville's offense to close out the game.
While some may look at Week 4 as an abration, some unlucky breaks that happen in NFL games, the 49ers will have to bounce back in a hurry as they travel down the Golden Coast to Los Angeles, where they will face off against a Rams team that just made waves by taking down a Colts team that didn't punt in Weeks 1-3.
Will the 49ers be able to overcome their injuries and issues to get back into the win column in Week 5, or will they continue to snowball, earning their first losing streak of the season?
The 49ers win the passing game battle
While Brock Purdy was able to make it back to the field for Week 4 against the Jacksonville Jaguars, ruining a chance for Max Jones to play against his former team, the 49ers don't have a guaranteed starter written in pen for Week 5, with their $265 million QB having aggravated his toe injury and having his immediate future laced up in the air.
Fortunately, whether Purdy or Jones ends up playing in Week 5, the 49ers have found incredible success with both quarterbacks under center, with San Francisco passing for at least 260 yards in all four games so far this season, regardless of who started each game.
Despite being one of the highest-paid quarterbacks in the NFL, Purdy hasn't quite gotten comfortable due to his toe injury, coming in and out of the lineup in September while looking uncomfortable at times because of his ailment. And yet, his 293 yards per game currently leads the NFL, even if his 4-4 touchdown-to-interception ratio leaves something to be desired.
And as for Jones? Well, his stats have been borderline identical, with the former New England Patriots first-rounder completing .5 percent more of his passes for four touchdowns as well – though only one interception – and 563 yards, good for a 281.5 yards per game average.
So no matter who ends up under center for Shanahan in Week 5, one thing is clear: the 49ers will be flirting with 300 passing yards once more, even against the ninth-ranked aerial defense in the NFL.
The Rams give Christian McCaffrey fits on the ground
While the 49ers have been very successful getting things done through the air in 2025, the ground game has been a very different story, even with decent enough health on the ground.
After losing Patrick Taylor Jr. over the summer, the 49ers traded for former Washington Commanders starter Brian Robinson Jr. to serve as a one-two punch with Christian McCaffrey – though not in that order – but so far, the duo have struggled to get much going, making life all the more challenging for whoever is under center on any given Sunday.
Combining for just 321 rushing yards on 91 total rushing attempts, plus 35 more from the quarterbacks, the 49ers currently rank 28th in rushing yards at just 352, with opposing teams having outrun them by 110 yards on just ten more carries. While the Rams aren't an elite run-stuffing defense, ranking 10th through four weeks, they did hold Saquon Barkley to under 100 yards in their Week 3 contest after allowing over 200 in each game last season.
Could CMC and Robinson put it all together in Week 5? Potentially so, but it's far more likely that they are held under 100 combined yards, which would feed right into Sean McVay's hands.
Kyle Shanahan's team falls to 3-2
For better or worse, Kyle Shanahan and Sean McVay will forever be linked in NFL history.
Two members of that legendary Washington Commanders coaching staff that featured incredible talent at seemingly every coaching position, McVay landed a head coaching gig with the Rams shortly before Shanahan earned a similar opportunity with the 49ers, with the two men having faced each other 16 times at the NFL level.
The all-time record? Shanahan up 10-6 heading into matchup No. 17.
Now, as that record proves, the 49ers have had the Rams' number almost twice as often as they've coughed up contests, including a six-game win streak from October 2019 through January of 2022, but Los Angeles has won the last two games between the two, and are favored in this game largely because of home-field advantage.
Could the 49ers pull out this game? Sure, they have done so three times already this season, and that number could have been four if it wasn't for a very unlucky play. But between their uncertainty under center, the Rams' success at slowing down the run, and the sheer volume of injuries all over the field, this feels like the kind of game where Shanahan will hope things work, and when they don't, he'll go back into the lab and figure something out, returning in Week 6 ready to rock once more.
