Rams vs. 49ers: Thursday Night Football Picks & Predictions for Tonight

The Rams and 49ers will match up in a high-stakes showdown on Thursday Night Football tonight. For the Rams (7-6), a win will put them in reach of the NFC West title. However, a loss for the 49ers (6-7) will virtually eliminate them from playoff contention.

These two teams have given us some classic showdowns in the past, and we can expect the same between Rams QB Matthew Stafford and 49ers QB Brock Purdy on Thursday night. 

Below, we’ll break down the best Thursday Night Football picks for Rams vs. 49ers for NFL DFS on PrizePicks, including a touchdown scorer. 

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Rams vs. 49ers: Thursday Night Football Picks & Prediction

Here are the top picks for Thursday Night Football tonight, Rams vs. 49ers, including a TD scorer prediction that’s a popular pick for PrizePicks Lineups.

• 49ers WR Jauan Jennings 70.5 Receiving Yards — More
• Rams QB Matthew Stafford 274.5 Pass Yards — More (Demon)
• 49ers QB Brock Purdy 20 Pass Completions — More
• TD Scorer Prediction: Rams WR Puka Nacua
• Thursday Night Football Prediction: Rams 30, 49ers 23

Rams vs. 49ers: Where to Watch, Location, Time

Date: Thursday, December 12

Time: 8:20 p.m. ET kickoff

Location: Levi’s Stadium, Santa Clara, Calif.

Where to Watch: Prime Video (with Amazon Prime Subscription)

Rams vs. 49ers Picks for Thursday Night Football on PrizePicks

Below, find the top four Thursday Night Football picks for Rams vs. 49ers, including PrizePicks projections for the showdown.

49ers WR Jauan Jennings 70.5 Receiving Yards — More

49ers WR Jauan Jennings has stepped up this season to be the team’s WR1 without Brandon Aiyuk. On Thursday Night Football, he draws a Rams defense that is incredibly vulnerable in the secondary. Since Week 10, the Rams rank 30th in Expected Point Added (EPA) per play, 27th in success rate (43.6%), and 25th in explosive plays allowed (16.4%).

Some recent WR performances over that time include: Patriots WR Kendrick Bourne 5 receptions-70 yards-1 touchdown, Eagles WR A.J. Brown 6-109-1, Bills WR Khalil Shakir 5-106-1, Bills WR Amari Cooper 6-95.

The Rams defense also hasn’t been generating pressure, with only 28 sacks this year (24th), which should allow QB Brock Purdy plenty of time to find Jennings. Even when he is under pressure, Purdy has the 10th-best adjusted completion percentage (68.4%) in the league. 

In the last matchup against the 49ers, Jennings had 11 receptions for 175 yards and three touchdowns. It’s hard to expect that kind of result again, but Jennings absolutely has the edge in this matchup.

While we have another Thursday Night Football TD scorer below, Jennings also makes a great Rush+Rec TD scorer pick. 

Rams QB Matthew Stafford 274.5 Pass Yards — More (Demon)

If we expect the 49ers to have success passing the ball in this game, we can also expect the Rams to pass to keep up. In these teams’ first matchup, we saw the Rams run 26 run plays and 26 pass plays, with Stafford throwing for 221 yards — and that was without the best 1-2 WR duo in the league, with Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp both out. 

But the Rams are a pass-forward team, throwing on 58% of plays this season. Last year, in a similar spot, when the Rams had Nacua healthy (no Kupp), head coach Sean McVay opted for a heavy-passing offense, with 55 passing attempts and only 22 rushes (including 4 rushes from Stafford), with Stafford throwing for 307 yards. 

With both Nacua and Kupp healthy, expect the same here.

Stafford has gone more on this passing yards number in five of his last seven games. Another option is to take the more on the passing yards combo offered on PrizePicks, which is 500.5 yards between Stafford and 49ers QB Brock Purdy.

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49ers QB Brock Purdy 20 Pass Completions — More

Similar to the analysis on the Jennings square, if we expect the 49ers to have easy success throwing the ball, Purdy should have his way against this secondary, leading to plenty of easy completions.

Beyond that, the 49ers are down their top two running backs in this game — Christian McCaffrey and Jordan Mason, and while Isaac Guerendo plans to play, he’s banged up and missed two practices.

With the matchup in front of him and a banged up RB room, you have to think that head coach Kyle Shanahan will go pass-happy and put the game in Purdy’s hands. Purdy has at least 20 completions in three of his last four games, including 20 in a 38-13 win last week.

TD Scorer Prediction: Rams WR Puka Nacua

This is the first time that Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp will face the 49ers together. Having these two together, along with tight end Tyler Higbee now healthy, gives the Rams one of the best passing attacks in all of football. 

On the 49ers side, they could be missing key pass-rusher Nick Bosa and are without safety Malik Mustapha. That’s going to be a problem for the 49ers, who are going to have their hands full here. 

Nacua is third in the NFL in red-zone targets over the last five weeks with nine. Since coming back from his early season injury, Nacua has scored in three of five games he’s finished. He leads all players in yards per route run.

While the 49ers defense has an edge in the passing game, Nacua is going to be tough for the 49ers to stop.

Thursday Night Football Prediction: Rams 30, 49ers 23

The Rams offense is hitting on all cylinders right now, as seen in the 44-42 win over the Bills last week. The combo of Stafford, Nacua, and Kupp is dangerous, matched only by a few in the NFL. The 49ers are down just enough pieces that Stafford shouldn’t have many issues taking care of the ball and having success moving it down the field.

On the 49ers side, this offense isn’t the same as it once was. Although the Rams defense is vulnerable, I have doubts that the 49ers in this state will be able to take advantage. They will be starting a fifth-round rookie offensive tackle, and are down to a banged-up third-string running back. It doesn’t exactly inspire confidence.

Give me the Rams to make a few plays on defense and move the ball consistently in this game against a 49ers team that is incredibly banged up on both sides of the ball on a short week.

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Get Thursday Night Football Action on PrizePicks

We’re blessed with a Thursday Night Football game with actual playoff implications in the NFC West in Week 15 with the Rams vs. 49ers. With explosive players on both sides of the ball, tonight is a great opportunity to cook up a PrizePicks Lineup to add to the excitement.

Whether you’re taking demons or goblins tonight, PrizePicks is the easiest way to get real money action on Thursday Night Football. Just pick more or less on at least two player projections like the ones above to win real money on the game.