49ers vs. Rams: Cooper Kupp as big a threat as ever to San Francisco

The 49ers host the Rams on Monday night, meaning wide receiver Cooper Kupp is a player the Niners must contain if they want to pull off a victory.

For the first four years of his NFL career, Los Angeles Rams All-Pro wide receiver Cooper Kupp never quite found his footing against his NFC West division rivals, the San Francisco 49ers.

Over the first five games in which he played versus the Niners, Kupp’s biggest performance ended up being late in 2019 when he had four receptions for 31 yards and a touchdown in what still turned into a key win for San Francisco amid that year’s Super Bowl push.

All that changed in 2021, though.

In the two regular-season contests the 49ers had against the Rams a year ago, Kupp recorded a combined 18 receptions for 240 yards and a touchdown. Then, once the Niners squared off against LA in the NFC Championship game last February, Kupp went off with an 11-catch, 142-yard effort with two touchdowns that helped Los Angeles eliminate San Francisco and make it into the Super Bowl.

Now, with these two teams squaring off for the first time since that conference championship, the 49ers defense will look to bottle up Kupp as much as possible.

49ers will have their hands full with Rams WR Cooper Kupp

For much of the 2021 season, talk of NFC wide receivers focused on two players, Kupp and the Niners’ own All-Pro, Deebo Samuel.

Samuel finished the year with 1,770 all-purpose yards, third most in the league, while Kupp managed 145 receptions for 1,947 yards and 16 receiving touchdowns, all NFL bests in 2021 that ultimately led to him accompanying Samuel in the first-team All-Pro nominations.

Over three games into 2022, and despite LA having some of its own offensive challenges, Kupp is nevertheless picking up where he left off, currently leading the league with 28 receptions and four all-purpose touchdowns while having 300 total yards, both on the ground and through the air.

And while Rams head coach Sean McVay isn’t quite using Kupp the same way San Francisco has used Samuel in a rushing setting, the fact Kupp has a 20-yard touchdown scamper is of note:

An added wrinkle the 49ers will have to be wary of when these two teams battle it out on Monday Night Football in Week 4.

49ers are much better equipped to face Cooper Kupp now

Rewinding back to Kupp’s most dominant season versus the Niners, it’s important to recognize just how big a liability their cornerback room was over the course of 2021.

Remember, that was the Josh Norman-led crop of corners, which ultimately led to San Francisco investing heavily in the position entering this season.

Namely by adding Charvarius Ward in NFL free agency.

Related Story: Charvarius Ward quietly great in 49ers loss to Broncos

Ward, who already has an interception and three passes broken up this year, is holding opposing quarterbacks to an exceptional 35.4 passer rating when targeting him. Considering Kupp is Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford’s clear-cut favorite with a team-high 28 targets on the year so far, nearly double the next leading LA receiver, tight end Tyler Higbee’s 16.

Needless to say, a matchup pitting Ward against Kupp will be an X-factor that’ll prove to be significant when the 49ers host Los Angeles on Monday night.

And if the Niners are able to contain Kupp, they’ll have that much greater a chance of pulling off a much-needed victory.