As the NFL teams begin their training camp, analysts including FOX’s Colin Cowherd claimed the Rams are better equipped to win NFC West compared to the 49ers.
Colin Cowherd expects the Los Angeles Rams to win the NFC West over the San Francisco 49ers. In his view, Sean McVay’s team used the last two drafts to good effect.
During the latest episode of FS1’s The Herd, host Colin Cowherd assessed the chances of every team’s position come the end of the 2024 regular season. One by one, Cowherd discussed and placed teams based on their recent success, including several controversial takes.
Arguably, the one regarding the Rams caused an uproar on social media. In the veteran analyst’s argument, he pointed out the weakness of the 49ers, which was their aging D-line and backfield.
The Los Angeles Rams indeed finished as the 8th-best-scoring offense with 404 points from 17 games. Yet, as Cowherd failed to mention, the 49ers scored 491 and placed third, only 5 behind the supercharged Miami Dolphins.
Sean McVay’s Rams possess one of the NFL’s youngest sides, with an average age of 24, but that doesn’t guarantee they will edge out the 49ers in the NFC West. In fact, Cowherd’s FOX colleague, Emmanuel Acho, backed the 49ers to outright win the division earlier this week.
McVay will enter his 8th season as the coach of the Rams, despite being one of the youngest. During that short amount of time, he has accomplished what most coaches can’t in their entire careers.
Hence, Cowherd picked him as the second-best head coach in the NFL, behind only the Kansas City Chiefs Andy Reid. Even though his position may irk some purists, even they can’t deny McVay’s pedigree.
He led the Rams to two Super Bowl appearances, winning one of them with Matthew Stafford. Furthermore, he has a regular season record of 70-45 and three divisional titles, along with 7-4 in the postseason, which is a 60% win rate.
Everything points at the Rams, proving to be tough competition for the 49ers. However, results depend on the strength of the schedule. According to Sharp Football Analysis, the Rams and the 49ers have the 17th and 18th hardest matchups in 2024, but they also gave +125 odds for Kyle Shanahan’s men to win their games over McVay’s -110.
Additionally, the 49ers also have recent history on their side. The Rams lost 8 out of the last 10 games against the Bay Area franchise, but their latest win came in January 2024.
