4 ways 49ers can beat Rams and clinch a playoff berth

No. 1: 49ers can go back to chewing up clock vs. Rams

Despite Matt Stafford’s recent struggles and interception woes, there’s no ignoring the fact of how dangerous he makes the Rams offense.

One of the best ways to limit that is to keep Stafford and Co. off the field as much as possible.

This was precisely the approach the Niners used way back in Week 10, dominating the time-of-possession battle by a difference of nearly 20 full minutes, 39:03 to 20:57.

Stafford’s two interceptions helped, albeit one was returned by Jimmie Ward for a touchdown, so that only partially matters. Yet San Francisco still executed a tremendous game plan by rushing a whopping 44 times for 156 yards despite only picking up an average of 3.5 yards per carry.

No reason to change that now.

Regardless of which quarterback Kyle Shanahan starts, Jimmy Garoppolo or Trey Lance, the 49ers’ primary offensive game plan should nevertheless be a run-heavy approach.

It won’t be easy still, as Los Angeles enters the game allowing just 3.9 yards per carry, which is good for fifth best in the league. But as long as the Niners are churning out an average of 4 yards per attempt and moving the chains, it’ll work. Particularly if there are drives of 10-plus minutes.

San Francisco and Los Angeles kick off on Sunday, Jan. 9 at 4:25 p.m. ET from SoFI Stadium.