The San Francisco 49ers and St. Louis Rams are both well out of the playoff race, and both face uncertain futures heading into the offseason. Neither team is set on its starting quarterback or its coaching staff, giving significance to Sunday's game beyond jockeying for positioning in the 2016 NFL Draft.
Rams vs. 49ers 2016 live stream: Start time, TV schedule and how to watch online
Will the Rams or 49ers make any coaching decisions based on Sunday’s game between the two?
For San Francisco, things have been extremely downhill since Jed York fired Jim Harbaugh and hired Jim Tomsula. The organization has been a comedy of errors and missteps, and with a 4-11 record, they will limp into the offseason with many significant questions.
And of those questions, the most important is whether or not Tomsula retains his job heading into next season. But it's not the only significant question, with coordinators Geep Chryst and Eric Mangini also potentially on the chopping block. The future of quarterback Colin Kaepernick also muddies the water a bit.
Keapernick was benched in favor of Blaine Gabbert, who has played below average football at times and surprisingly well at others. Kaepernick was placed on injured reserve and if his shoulder heals in time, the 49ers will release him with no salary cap penalties. But Gabbert is the real question mark. Is he playing well enough to give the 49ers confidence going into the offseason?
Or does Gabbert look good because Kaepernick looked so poor?
Gabbert has completed 63.0 percent of his passes for 1,677 yards with nine touchdowns and six interceptions this season. Kaepernick completed just 59.0 percent of his passes for 1,615 yards with six touchdowns and five interceptions.
Sunday’s performance against the rival Rams could play a huge part in determining which coordinators stick around in San Francisco, and whether or not Gabbert is considered a legitimate option at quarterback going into 2016-17. That might be a mistake, given his lack of success thus far in his career, but the 49ers have a lot of holes and if they believe Gabbert could be an effective stopgap, a big game against the Rams could help his case.
Kaepernick’s last full game as starter came when the 49ers played the Rams in St. Louis earlier this season. He completed 20 of 41 passes for 162 yards and was sacked three times for a loss of 11 yards. The 49ers only rushed for 38 yards in total as a team and were completely dominated by a Rams team that put up 27 points.
St. Louis had Nick Foles in that game and he was effective enough to lead them to a win. But Foles, a big offseason acquisition, has since been benched for Case Keenum. He has played well at times, but the emergence of running back Todd Gurley, who put up over 100 yards against the 49ers in the first game, has been more critical for hte late-season success of St. Louis.
The Rams have won their last three games, including a victory over the rival Seattle Seahawks in Week 16. The Rams are poised to finish the year with a 5-1 record against NFC West opponents, which might be enough to keep Jeff Fisher in town for another year.
How to watch
When: 4:25 p.m. ET Sunday
Where: Levi’s Stadium, Santa Clara, Calif.
TV: CBS
Commentators: Tom McCarthy, Adam Archuleta
Online: Watch NFL Live
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