49ers–Rams rivalry

The rivalry between San Francisco 49ers and the St. Louis Rams of the National Football League began in 1950. The rivalry became one of the most intense in the NFL in the 1970s as the two California based teams (the Rams then played their home games in Southern California) regularly competed for the NFL's NFC West Division title. After the Rams move to St. Louis in 1995 the rivalry lost its geographical lore, though games are still intense no matter what the standings indicate. The cultural differences between the West Coast (where the 49ers are based) and the Midwest (the home base for the Rams) also added to the intensity of the rivalry. Sports Illustrated considers their rivalry the 8th best of all time in the National Football League.

1950s
In 1950 the National Football League merged with the All-America Football Conference thus gaining three new teams. One of these teams was the San Francisco 49ers making them the second team in the NFL from the west coast, the first being the Los Angeles Rams. The NFL placed both of them within the National Conference guaranteeing that they would play each other twice during the regular season.

The first meeting between the teams took place on October 1, 1950 at Kezar Stadium in San Francisco. The Rams were alternating starting quarterbacks between Bob Waterfield and Norm Van Brocklin during the 1950 season. Waterfield was the starter for the game, but during the second quarter San Francisco's Pete Wissman landed a hard tackle on the Los Angeles quarterback. Van Brocklin filled in for Waterfield, and the Rams went on to win the game 35 to 14. The two teams played each other again on November 5, 1950 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles. After beating the Baltimore Colts 70-21 and the Detroit Lions 65-24, the Rams were favored to beat the 49ers by 20 points. Yet, the 49ers played a very physical game and only lost by a touchdown holding the Rams offensive powerhouse to only 28 points.

The 49ers got their first win against the Rams on October 28, 1951. The 49er secondary was able to pick off Van Brocklin six times, more than half of the interceptions that he throw all season. The 49ers held the Rams to just 17 points, the lowest they put up all season and were able to capitalize on the turnovers en route to a 44-17 victory.

1970s
The 49ers Rams rivalry was at its pinnacle during the 1970s. From 1970-1979 one of the two teams won the NFC's West Division. The decade also featured a ten and eight game win streak by the Rams (the eight game streak was the latter of the two and stretched into the early 1980s). The 49ers were the NFC West's top team in the beginning of the decade winning the first three post merger division crowns. The Rams answered right back winning seven straight division crowns from 1973–1979, culminating with Super Bowl XIV loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

1980s
On January 2, 1983, a 1-7 Rams team met the 3-5 defending Super Bowl champion 49ers in San Francisco for the last game of the 1982 season (a players' strike shortened the season to 9 games), with the 49ers needing a win to make the playoffs. The Rams led late in the 4th quarter by 1 point until 49er quarterback Joe Montana led one of his patented two-minute drives, putting the 49ers in position for a short field goal. But Ivory Sully blocked Ray Wersching's kick to preserve a 21-20 win and knock the 49ers out of the playoffs.

On January 14, 1990 the two teams met in the 1989 NFC Championship game. The Rams were heavy underdogs but had already pulled off two upsets on the road in the playoffs (over the Eagles and Giants). The Rams took a 3-0 early lead and were driving again, but Rams quarterback Jim Everett noticed a wide open Flipper Anderson a second too late and the pass was knocked away by 49er safety Ronnie Lott. Instead of a 10-0 Rams lead, Montana led the 49ers on a touchdown drive and San Francisco took the lead 7-3. The 49ers would go on to win the game 30-3.

1990s
The 49ers dominated the rivalry during the 1990s winning seventeen straight games against the Rams. After nearly forty years, it seemed like the rivalry was coming to an end when the Rams relocated to St. Louis, Missouri. Yet, some players did not believe so. Roger Craig stated in Tales from the San Francisco 49ers Sideline that "the Rams will always be the 49ers' biggest rival. It doesn't matter if they no longer play in Los Angeles. If the Rams played their home games on Mars, it would still be a rivalry."

2000s
The Rams and their Greatest Show on Turf offense had the upper hand in the early part of the decade. But both teams fell into decline and neither team was a playoff contender as the decade wore on. The 49ers had the upper hand during the latter part of the decade, going 8-2 from the 2005 season to the end of the decade.

General

 * 49ers vs Rams Results