2021 NFL Playoffs - Conference Championship Thread

Huge third down play by Jennings and they get a TD straight afterwards.

And that’s the end of that, Rams get to the Super Bowl in “win now” mode.

Who knows what would have happened if Tartt held onto that ball. Crushing drop.

Hell of a win off a bonus bet! Wish it was me 😂

its hard to believe that Joe Burrow will only become the third qb to win the college national championship and the superbowl after Joe Montana and Joe Namath.

Missed a decent chunk of the Rams game last night but had a look at the game in 40 there. I don't think the 49ers can have too many complaints. The Rams left a few INT's and TD's behind them and just overall looked like the better team. Obviously thought the missed INT by Tartt was massive, and probably the moment of the game. Would it have changed the result though? You certainly couldn't say for certain that it would have. The Rams D was really beginning to dominate in that final quarter and I would have fancied them to get the stop.

All things considered I actually thought Jimmy G was decent last night. He was very fortunate twice not to get picked off, but overall he had the ball out very fast and never really gave the Rams D-line a chance to get to him - until the final drive where he simply had to wait for players to get open. I don't think the pick was totally on him (I thought he should have grounded it), he tried to make a play happen in the final 2 mins on a 3rd and 13 and got it to a receiver's hands. But I don't see why the 49ers would renew his contract. He's proven time and again now that he's simply not the guy to bring them a Superbowl.

I've said it a few times now in this thread, but that Rams D-line is phenomenal. They wrecked the game in the 4th quarter when the 49ers tried to open things up a bit and they weren't exactly blitzing on every down either. I actually picked the Bengals to beat to the Chiefs, but I really don't see the Bengals even getting close to the Rams in the Superbowl. Their O-line is obviously their weak spot so I can just see a repeat of last year's game with different jerseys. Would love to see the Bengals win though. What a story they are, 4 wins last year and $60 mill in cap space. Ridiculous stuff.

Took a while to digest that 49ers loss before posting.

In the end it was unfortunately one step too far for this 49ers team. Through their own poor play and some bad luck they'd put themselves in the position of having to be in basically playoff mode for the guts of 2.5 months and the Packers game you could see how the historic run of away wins had most of the team shattered and it really came to a head in the final quarter on Sunday. Rams had the ball for 10 minutes longer and ran 26 more plays and they fell apart on both sides of the ball.

The 49ers DL were one of the few elements of the team that played well, putting Stafford under a season high pressure rate while blitzing only 6 times, Stafford was able to make the most of the times when he was kept clean and took advantage of the 49ers weak secondary, being able to convert 11 of 18 third downs. On the other side the Rams sold out to stop the run, stacking the box at a season high rate, and Jimmy was unable to either scare them away from that or take advantage of what it gave him.

There were moments in the game that could be questioned, from the Tartt drop to the OL mistakes to Shanahan not going for it on 4th down but the difference in the game was the QBs - if the 49ers were more aggressive in getting Stafford and not letting the Rams surprise them in pushing through the trade so quickly then they win that game. I couldn't have more respect for Jimmy for how he dealt with this season, mentored Lance, and how much the team loves him but he is rarely going to win you games and Sunday was just another example of that. He is right in that top part of the mid-tier QB group and would be an upgrade for many teams, especially when you take into account his leadership qualities. Hopefully we get a decent return for him and I'll be able to support him wherever he ends up without the stress that he brings on every drop back.

0-2 with my picks this week. Before the season I very much underestimated the Rams' luck to avoid key injuries and also their continued aggressiveness in adding more star pieces - I don't think they win yesterday if any of their superstar players are out or if they do not add OBJ and Miller. Their approach is a gamble but they are very close to it coming off, being understandable favourites in two weeks. We've ended up with a very unique finale but not sure if the interest level is going to be there given the lack of team history, fan bases, and narratives.

The logistic of changing the Super Bowl venue in less than 2 weeks would render that impossible.