The Los Angeles Rams lost a big game in Week 18 to the San Francisco 49ers last Sunday, but still managed to clinch the NFC West division and a home game for the first round of the playoffs.
The biggest issue in that game was that the 49ers fan base essentially made the road game a home game by the sheer number of them that showed up at SoFi Stadium. Home field advantage can be extremely important when it comes time for the postseason, but SoFi Stadium has developed somewhat of a reputation for being filled with opposing fanbases during games.
Kelly Stafford took to Instagram on Wednesday night to deliver a plea to Rams fans to not sell their tickets to Cardinals fans and to show up and be loud for the home team.
“I’m not gonna lie, I have never seen so many of the opposing team’s fans at a game. And we came from Detroit. There were a lot of good traveling teams there, but that was wild,” Kelly said of the Rams’ most recent game against the Niners.
After the game, Stafford hinted at how they were like the visiting team in their own home in Week 18.
“We had a chance there at the end of the gam. I thought our guys did a good job communicating. It was a tough environment for us to communicate in, really, the whole second half,” Stafford said, referencing how the 49ers fans rallied the San Francisco team after falling 14-3 at halftime (via Rams communication).
“Our guys did a nice job and we got that lead back. Just didn’t finish it the way we can on offense and could’ve—had we gotten a first down there, the game probably would’ve been over.”
While Stafford refused to talk about the lack of Rams fans in attendance and how the 49ers supporters dominated the stadium, he did give credit to the visitors for doing a good job of making life hard for them.
“They did a nice job showing. That’s for sure,” Stafford added.