NFL Playoffs: Rams vs 49ers Preview, Betting Odds for NFC Championship Game

By Pascal Lemesre , SBK expert

🎙️ Voice is AI-generated. Inconsistencies may occur.

The Los Angeles Rams head into their NFC Championship match against the San Francisco 49ers as huge favorites with sportsbook SBK.

The Rams are big 4/7 favorites to beat the 49ers this Sunday and book their place in the 2022 Super Bowl at the SoFi Stadium in California.

Despite the odds not being in their favor, the 49ers appear to have a psychological advantage over the Rams having beaten them twice already this season. In fact, the 49ers, under the guidance of head coach Kyle Shanahan, have won their last SIX encounters with the Rams.

And their last meeting was a pulsating one as the 49ers came from 17 points down to secure a 27-24 overtime victory earlier this month. So if their last clash is anything to go by, NFL fans should be in for a treat this Sunday.

The 49ers are in red-hot form having won their last four games, with their recent triumph coming in a 13-10 divisional round victory over the previously much-fancied Green Bay Packers. The 49ers pulled off the shock result without scoring an offensive touchdown throughout the entire match.

If that is to change against a formidable Rams outfit, Deebo Samuel is the 7/1 second favorite to score the first touchdown of the match, with Rams wide receiver Cooper Kupp the 11/2 favorite to open the scoring.

Kupp and Samuel are 5/6 and 6/5, respectively, to score a touchdown anytime, with Elijah Mitchell (13/10), Odell Beckham Jr (6/4) and Cam Akers (6/4) also fancied.

Cooper Kupp and Deebo Samuel — The Rams' Cooper Kupp and the 49ers' Deebo Samuel are two of the favorites to score touchdowns in the NFC Championship Game. Getty Images

Similarly to the 49ers, the Rams shocked the NFL world by beating last year's Super Bowl winners Tampa Bay Buccaneers and denying Tom Brady an eighth Big Game title. The Rams were 27-3 up in the third quarter, before the Bucs unbelievably levelled the score with less than a minute to play. Then, Matt Gay converted a 30-yard field goal to win for the Rams with seconds remaning.

This is likely to be Jimmy Garoppolo's final season as a 49ers player, having played key roles in previous victories over the Rams - and head coach Shanahan has praised his star quarterback's professionalism.

He said: "I think it's just allowed everyone to move on and be themselves.

"And I think throughout the year, that's allowed Garoppolo to get better, it's allowed our team to get better, it's allowed me to get better and focus on what we should focus on and just trying to be as good at our jobs as we can."