The 49ers and Rams are two teams in the National Football League that rival each other. The rivalry started in 1950 and became one of the most heated in the National Football League in the 1970s when the two California-based teams often played for the NFC West Division title. The rivalry is also intense because Northern California, where the 49ers are from, and Southern California, where the Rams are from, have been rivals in the economic, cultural, and political fields for a long time. In this article we will know all facts about 49ers vs ramss.
49ers vs rams: What 49ers mean?
In 1848, when the California Gold Rush began, there was no American football. But a hundred years later, a football team would get its name from those tough gold miners.
In January 1848, gold was found for the first time in Northern California. The news took about a year to spread and get thousands of people to move west. When the miners got there in 1849, they were lucky in several ways. They were earlier compared to the people coming after them in the next six years. They could put a pan in the river and get gold. Also, California was still a place that was argued over. Gold was free before 1850 when California became a state. There was no talk about taxes or land rights. The “forty-niners” quickly became the name for these lucky early gold miners. People all over the country read about them, and in 1879, a book called The Forty-niners, Or, The Pioneer’s Daughter, came out.
In the meantime, the first American football game was played in New Jersey in 1869. Even back then, it didn’t look much like football but more like a mix of soccer and rugby. When the first football team in Northern California was formed in 1946, the name just made sense. Sourdough Sam, a gold miner, was the team’s mascot (pictured above). The team has never been anywhere else, maybe because of its name.
49ers vs rams: Why Are They Calle Rams?
Most NFL fans know that the Rams used to play in Los Angeles. In 1994, they moved temporarily to St. Louis. They might not know that the Rams didn’t start in California. The Rams were founded in Cleveland in 1936. They played their first few seasons in the American Football League, but when that league folded, the Rams moved to the NFL. Things were hard for the team when they were called the Cleveland Rams. They didn’t win a championship until 1945, after a 9-1 season, when they beat the Washington Redskins. During the off-season, they would move to Los Angeles.
Damon “Buzz” Wetzel, the general manager at the time, came up with their name. History says that Wetzel’s favourite college team was the Fordham Rams, which was also the team Vince Lombardi played for. Wetzel came up with the name because he was a fan of Fordham’s team, and it has stuck ever since.
49ers vs rams Rivarly
During the 21 years that the Rams were in St. Louis, the rivalry did not have the same geographic history as it did in the past. However, games were still intense, no matter who was in the first place. In 2016, when the Rams moved back to Los Angeles, the rivalry was again based on geography. According to Sports Illustrated, their rivalry is the 8th best in the history of the National Football League. The 49ers and Rams are also the only teams in the NFC West that have been there since it started in 1970.
The Rams won most of the first 30 years of the rivalry and were ahead by as many as 22 games in 1980. However, the 49ers’ strong play in the 1980s and 1990s, including a 17-game winning streak from 1990 to 1998, helped them take the lead. The teams have played each other twice in the NFL playoffs. In the NFC Championship Game in 1989, the 49ers won 30–3; in the NFC Championship Game in 2021, the Rams won 20–17.
Some of the essential 49ers vs rams games ever
The 49ers have won 75 of the 78 games between them, and they won the only time they met in the playoffs. They also have a significant advantage in the Lombardi Trophies (5 to 1). The Rams are a slight favourite this time, but we’ve learned from this rivalry not to count on anything.
49ers vs rams: Jan. 2, 1983: Rams 21, 49ers 20
The 49ers, who had just won the Super Bowl, had to win to get back into the playoffs. The Rams had lost four games in a row and were in the middle of a terrible season. It should have been a big deal in San Francisco, right? Think again. The Niners gave up a 13-point lead at halftime, and Ray Wersching’s try to win the game with a field goal was blocked by Ivory Sully with 1:53 left.
49ers vs rams: Dec. 14, 1984: 49ers 19, Rams 16
The Niners had been the best team in the NFC for weeks, but Bill Walsh didn’t want to let his players rest. Not when history is at stake. The Niners came into the game with a 14-1 record. They became the first team to do this by holding off a late Rams comeback. The game was over when Gary Johnson sacked Jack Kemp for a safety in the final seconds of regulation.
49ers vs rams: Jan. 14, 1990: 49ers 30, Rams 3 (NFC Championship Game)
Let’s hope that Sunday’s game is closer than the last time these two teams played for a spot in the Super Bowl. The Rams won two playoff games on the road to get to the NFC Championship Game, but a buzzsaw stopped them. In a big win for San Francisco, Joe Montana hit the Rams for 262 yards and two touchdowns on 26 of 30 passes, and Jim Everett threw three picks. The Niners went on to win the Super Bowl for the fourth time in nine years. The Rams wouldn’t make the playoffs again for ten years.
49ers vs rams: Jan. 9, 2022: 49ers 27, Rams 24
We at PFN hate to be stuck in the present, but any list that doesn’t include this recent instant classic is missing something. Without it, the NFC Championship Game would be something the 49ers would watch on TV instead of playing in. In Week 18, the Niners had to win to get into the playoffs. Late in the first half, they were down 17-0, but they came back to win the game in overtime. In the last two minutes of regulation, Jimmy Garoppolo led a 5-play, 88-yard touchdown drive that tied the game. Then, in overtime, Robbie Gould blasted a 24-yard field goal, sending San Francisco to the playoffs for the 28th time.
