Will Familiar Face Turn Tide of Rams-49ers Rivalry?

In eight consecutive seasons, at least one team has rebounded after a losing year to win a playoff game. Aside from Jerome Bettis, a growing number of prognosticators see the San Francisco 49ers continuing that streak in 2025.

While San Francisco’s most significant offseason player signing was former Rams wide receiver DeMarcus Robinson, the 49ers’ most impactful overall addition might have been the return of Robert Saleh.

“I'm going to say the 49ers will win the division and make it all the way to the NFC Championship Game,” ESPN analyst Bill Barnwell said Friday morning on Get Up. “Of course, we talk so much about the offensive players on this team, but it's the defense that needs to turn things around.

“Robert Saleh, the new DC, in such a short time there, he's going to rebuild that defense with some of the young players there, and they'll have a healthier offense.”

It’s a new chapter in the Rams-49ers rivalry. In addition to Saleh’s return, both Cooper Kupp nor Deebo Samuel are gone (but not forgotten).

The Rams had a volatile relationship with Saleh in his first stint as 49ers defensive coordinator (2017-20). In Sean McVay’s first season as head coach, the Rams won the NFC West thanks in part to a 41-39 shootout victory over Saleh. After a meaningless loss to the Niners in the 2017 season finale, the Rams hung 87 combined points on Saleh’s defense on their way to the Super Bowl in 2018.

But Saleh got his revenge in 2019, when the Niners swept Los Angeles on the way to their own Super Bowl berth. In Saleh’s best year as a coordinator, his unit ranked first in passing defense (169.2 yards allowed per game), second in total defense (281.8), fourth with 48 sacks and sixth with 27 takeaways.

And in Saleh’s last season with the 49ers, despite a 6-10 record in 2020, two of the Niners’ wins came against the Rams.

In four years as head coach of the Jets (2021-24), Saleh met the Rams just once. Los Angeles went into MetLife Stadium on Dec. 22 last season and came away with a 19-9 victory. The Jets held Matthew Stafford to just 110 yards passing, but Chris Shula’s defense shut out New York in the second half and Stafford hit Tyler Higbee for an 11-yard game-winning touchdown in the fourth quarter.

All told, since Kyle Shanahan first hired Saleh as defensive coordinator in 2017, Saleh is 5-4 in games against the Rams, including a 5-3 mark with the 49ers.

This year, McVay and the Rams get their first 49ers reunion with Saleh on a short week. Los Angeles hosts San Francisco in Week 5 on Thursday Night Football, Oct. 2. The rematch is at Levi’s Stadium in Week 10, Nov. 9.

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