The Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers don't need any reminders of the bad blood between them.
The two division and in-state rivals have been competing since 1950, and the feud has ramped up again recently with the Rams moving back to L.A. and both teams regularly competing for titles. In the regular season, though, the 49ers have dominated with eight straight victories over their rival to the south. However, the Rams have won the most important game in recent memory, defeating the 49ers 20-17 in the 2021 NFC Championship Game and going on to win Super Bowl LVI.
According to former Rams offensive tackle Andrew Whitworth, the 49ers would happily sacrifice that regular-season dominance in exchange for that one playoff win.
"I think as much as the bragging rights are for all the wins, I think if you ask any Niners player, in their heart they'd much rather have that NFC Championship Game than those other ones," Whitworth told NBC Sports Bay Area's Matt Maiocco. "No different for us. It's one of those things, the 49ers are an amazing football team. You look at defensively, offensively, how they're built, the structure they've done as far as putting that team together."
Furthermore, Whitworth believes the Rams' previous struggles against the 49ers helped them win that NFC Championship. In particular, he recalled how the Rams' 27-24 overtime loss to the 49ers in the regular-season finale made them regroup and better prepare for the eventual playoff rematch.
That regular-season finale was also enlightening in another way, as it showed the Rams how well 49ers fans travelled. Some San Francisco Fans even referred to SoFi Stadium as "Levi's Stadium South," and the Rams were forced to use a silent count in their own home. With the NFC Championship Game taking place just a few weeks later, the Rams were much better prepared the second time around.
"When we got to the NFC championship and they were coming to town, I think we treated it as a given," Whitworth said. "They're going to have a ton of fans, it's going to be loud, we're going to prepare for the silent count the whole game even though it's our home stadium and we're going to have to just deal with it and whatever the circumstances are of the game, we're just going to have to overcome them. The 49ers Faithful is special man, they travel well and I've got to give it to them. I don't know if I've ever been on a silent count so many times in my career in my home stadium."
As usual, these two rivals will meet twice in the 2023 regular season, in L.A. on Sept. 17 and in San Francisco on Jan. 7. It's safe to say that there won't be any love lost, even with the Rams heading in a different direction.
You can follow Jonathan Alfano on Twitter @JonAlfano_News
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