 in Week 18, who have also clinched a playoff spot and will be either the No. 6 or No. 7 seed in the NFC, depending on the outcome of Sunday’s game.
The 49ers will be resting quarterback Brock Purdy and running back Christian McCaffrey, while Arik Armstead (foot, knee), Ji’Ayir Brown (knee), Ross Dwelley (ankle), Tashaun Gipson (quad), Ambry Thomas (hand), and Jauan Jennings (concussion) have all been ruled out
Fullback Kyle Juszczyk (illness), guard John Feliciano (back), and wide receiver Danny Gray (shoulder) are questionable.
As a result, the 49ers activated wideout Ray-Ray McCloud from the Injured Reserve list, while Tayler Hawkins and Jeremy McNichols were promoted from the practice squad.
Dwelley was moved to the Injured Reserve list in place of McCloud, effectively ending his season.
Heading into the game, the 49ers are seen as 4.5-point favorites, according to DraftKings Sportsbook, with the over/under placed at 41 points.
The Los Angeles Rams have been one of the hottest teams in the NFL over the second half of the season, as they’ve won six of their last seven games, which helped them clinch a playoff spot last weekend.
Now locked into the playoffs, the Rams are resting several key players as well, as quarterback Matthew Stafford, running back Kyren Williams, wide receiver Cooper Kupp, defensive tackle Aaron Donald, and linebacker Ernest Jones have all been ruled out.
Additionally, offensive lineman Joe Noteboom (foot) and tight end Tyler Higbee (shoulder) will not play due to injuries.
That means backup quarterback Carson Wentz will earn the start against Sam Darnold, but he will be throwing to almost all of Los Angeles’s backups, except for wideout Puka Nacua, who is 29 yards away from the all-time rookie receiving record.
Defensively, the Rams seem to be playing their entire starting defense outside of Aaron Donald and Ernest Jones, and are still playing to win, as they could clinch the NFC’s No. 6 seed with a victory.
Should they lose, the Rams would need aÂ
 Winning games is always important, but the No. 1 objective of this matchup has to be to come out as healthy as possible.
With ultimately nothing to play for, the 49ers cannot afford to lose any key players to injury for the stretch run of the season.
San Francisco is already sitting Brock Purdy and Christian McCaffrey, but they cannot place others as inactives due to the number of players already ruled out to injury.
I don’t expect any starters to play the full game, but it’ll be intriguing to see how the 49ers distribute snaps across their starters and backups on Sunday.
The Rams are looking to employ a similar strategy, as they’ve ruled out a number of players ahead of the contest as well
