49ers' Kyle Shanahan and Rams' Sean McVay have a budding rivalry, but don't expect many theatrics in Week 18

Neither team has much, if anything, to play for

Sunday's game between the 49ers and Rams continues a rich, modern rivalry between teams led by offensive minds Kyle Shanahan and Sean McVay. But don't expect the Week 18 tilt to advance football philosophies in any meaningful way.

The 49ers have locked into the No. 1 seed and have already ruled out Brock Purdy (rest) and Christian McCaffrey (calf) for the game, meaning Sam Darnold will get the start. The Rams have clinched a playoff berth, will start Carson Wentz at quarterback, and will be either the sixth or seventh seed facing either the Lions, Eagles or Cowboys in the wild-card round.

But most importantly, two weeks after this game, there's a chance both of these teams could face each other again in the postseason. And neither coach will want to show his cards in early January.

The No. 1 seeded 49ers would come off the first-round bye to host the lowest-remaining seed in the divisional round. Since the Rams will be either the sixth or seventh seed in the NFC, a win next weekend in the wild-card round would nearly clinch a rematch with the 49ers.

If the Rams beat the 49ers on Sunday, L.A. will be locked into the sixth seed. If the Rams lose and the Packers beat the Bears, L.A. would get the seventh seed.

Sunday's game between these teams will be more competitive than an NBA All-Star Game, for example, but about as vanilla as the second preseason game in the NFL.

"As vanilla as can be," a source with one of the teams said.

The 49ers beat the Rams, 30-23, in Week 2 at SoFi Stadium. Shanahan is now 10-4 all-time against McVay, including nine consecutive regular-season victories.

But for all the recent success against the Rams, the 49ers suffered their lone loss to L.A. in a half-decade in the postseason. The Rams came back from a double-digit fourth-quarter deficit in the NFC Championship Game during the 2021 playoffs to win, 20-17, and go on to win the Super Bowl.

With that in mind, and with decent chances of a third meeting this year, you should expect basic game plans from both sides on Sunday.