The San Francisco 49ers will square off against the Los Angeles Rams on Thursday night, and former Niners long-snapper Taybor Pepper is stirring the pot ahead of this NFC West matchup by accusing LA of piping in crowd noise at SoFI Stadium.
Pepper took to social media to fire a shot across the bow at the Rams for allegedly piping in crowd noise during the NFC Championship game against San Francisco a few years back:
Any time I think about the Rams, I think about how much crowd noise was pumped in the stadium during that NFC Championship game.
— Taybor Pepper (@TayborSnapping) September 30, 2025
Never heard SoFi that loud before or after that game and I’m pretty sure the Niner fans were still the majority of ticket holders that game too 🧐
If you cannot access the post, Pepper wrote, "Any time I think about the Rams, I think about how much crowd noise was pumped in the stadium during that NFC Championship game. Never heard SoFi that loud before or after that game and I’m pretty sure the Niner fans were still the majority of ticket holders that game too."
It is no secret that 49ers fans have turned LA's SoFi Stadium into Levi's South. Seemingly every time the two teams square off in Los Angeles, Niners fans vastly outnumber Rams fans. Los Angeles players have no choice but to acknowledge that reality, and it seems Thursday's game is going to be no different based on ticket sales.
Of course, the Rams ended up having the last laugh in that NFC Championship game as they beat the 49ers after a typical blown lead by San Francisco and went on to win the Super Bowl in SoFi Stadium just a few weeks later.
Even if the crowd is on the Niners' side Thursday night, the 49ers are going to have their work cut out for them. The team is absolutely decimated by injuries right now, missing tight end George Kittle and edge rusher Nick Bosa. Quarterback Brock Purdy may not be able to go and the team's top two wide receivers may end up being Kendrick Bourne and Demarcus Robinson.
Yikes.
Still, if the Niners can at least keep the game close, then maybe the crowd advantage will come in handy late in the game especially if LA has to use a silent count or adjust based off the noise from fans in red and gold.
Let's just hope that Pepper's swipe at the Rams does not inspire them to break out the artificial crowd noise ahead of the contest on Thursday night.