Scooter Tuning Pics » talking. All those fun and games [with Eddie]

When the Los Angeles Rams visit the San Francisco 49ers on Monday night at Levis Stadium in Santa Clara, there will be so many major narratives surrounding this game that the key one is often lost in translation.The Rams are back in Southern California after a 21-year stay in St. Louis. One of the most storied rivalries in football has come full circle to renew a once torrid intra-state rivalry between teams that were once the strength of the NFC West.Ultimately, the Rams would have loved to open at home, but due to a scheduling conflict with the University of Southern California, the game is in the Bay Area as the second half of a Monday Night Football doubleheader. Kickoff is 10:20 p.m. ET.A few months ago, this game looked like it would feature 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick and Rams No. 1 draft pick Jared Goff. But both will be on the sidelines as controversial backups.Kaepernick received significant publicity the last two weeks for his action of sitting during the national anthem. However, lost in all the hyperbole is the play of starting quarterback Blaine Gabbert. Even before all the national media attention, which had nothing to do with on-the-field play, Gabbert won over the San Francisco locker room and head coach Chip Kelly.The whole body of work from April until today, Kelly said when asked what impressed him about Gabbert. Hes a good fit for what we want to get accomplished, and I have a lot of confidence in what he can do for us offensively.Kelly said Gabbert was very matter of fact to him, about getting the news that he was named the opening-day starter, and lets go to work.Gabberts best game of his NFL career came against many of the same defensive players he will face Monday night.In the 2015 season finale, the 49ers signal-caller threw for 354 yards and helped beat the Rams, 19-16. The defensive backfield of cornerback Trumaine Johnson, cornerback E.J. Gaines, safety T.J. McDonald and safety Maurice Alexander will need to play sound techniques and limit the deep-ball opportunities of Gabbert to wideout Torrey Smith. Smith is a true deep threat and has the speed to get behind a nicked-up Gaines. Look for cornerback Lamarcus Joyner to play a significant role if Gaines struggles in coverage.The Rams front defensive seven is as good as there is in the NFL. The 49ers offensive line is a middle-of-the-road unit. The Rams defense should be looking to control the 49ers rushing attack of Carlos Hyde and force Gabbert to make throws outside the pocket.Rams defensive tackles Aaron Donald and Michael Brockers need to be able to control the interior of the offensive line. If this duo can get Hyde, who likes to run with vertical power, to play laterally, this will allow new middle linebacker Alec Olgetree to use his speed to stop the run game.A key matchup in this game for the 49ers offense and the Rams defense is left tackle Joe Staley going against defensive end Robert Quinn. Five and half of Quinns 50 career sacks have come against San Francisco. Most of those sacks have been against Staley, who is one of the most technically-sound players in the NFL and will need to play his best against the Rams.The Rams quarterback situation is another key to the game, but that narrative is a long way from being written. The Rams gave up six draft choices to select quarterback Jared Goff, who begins the season as a third stringer. Goff, the rookie from California, will spend the first game of his NFL career in street clothes.Hes not ready, but hes really, really made significant progress, Rams head coach Jeff Fisher said of Goff.While Goff seems upbeat and willing to learn, the Rams made the move to mortgage the franchise because they believed the signal-caller could start from Day 1. Instead that honor goes to veteran quarterback Case Keenum.No matter who the Rams start at quarterback for the opener, or for the rest of the season, the offense begins and ends with running back Todd Gurley. The second-year man out of Georgia tore up NFL defenses in 2015 and will be looking to add to his career totals after being healthy all offseason. The Rams will look to pound the football off-tackle behind right tackle Rob Havenstein and left tackle Greg Robinson.The 49ers defensive front comes into the season with major question marks. The unit already lost starting nose tackle Ian Williams for the season with an ankle injury. Starting defensive end Arik Armstead and key backup at nose tackle Glenn Dorsey are currently nursing injuries. The Rams offensive line needs to attack rookie defensive end DeForest Buckner and see if the young player can hold his own in the NFL. Air Jordan China .C. -- Charlotte Bobcats coach Steve Clifford said after all of these years in the NBA hes still amazed at some of the things LeBron James does. Clearance Air Jordan Store . With Parker having a quiet game for once, Nicolas Batum and Boris Diaw provided the scoring as France won its first major basketball title by beating Lithuania 80-66 on Sunday. 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Now tied for second in the league in shootout goals, the 24-year-old likes to see what the opposing goaltender has in store before he ultimately lands on a move. TWICKENHAM -- Four of Englands match day squad had not been born the last time they achieved a perfect year back in 1992 and a further three were yet to reach their first birthday. But win against Australia on Saturday and the class of 2016 will have written their own chapter in the national teams 145-year history.Talk of history, nationalism and a supposed ruined legacy have driven the narrative leading into Saturdays Test; Anglo-Australian relations have been strained, stretched and tested. But sideshows, pre-match verbal hostilities and allegations over illegal scrummaging will be parked for two hours on Saturday.England are on the verge of history as they chase the unbeaten year-- their first since 1992 when they won all six Tests -- and Eddie Jones has challenged his team to produce their Nadia Comaneci match, the perfect game.Englands 2016 saw them start with a grand slam, then a one-off Test win against Wales, a 3-0 clean sweep on Australian soil followed and now they are three from three in the November internationals. They hope Saturdays will be lucky number 13 this year under Jones.Jones has attempted to downplay the significance of their run, focusing on the long-term and ultimately the 2019 Rugby World Cup. But given where Jones picked up this England side at the start of the year -- one still wounded by their dismal World Cup performance and the fallout -- it is a remarkable feat.Back in January, Jones faced the press in the small media room in the heart of Twickenham and unveiled his first England squad. There was a post-World Cup cull and he talked of how England must transform their mindset into one of perennial winners. There were no grey areas.On Friday Jones stood in the same room, now with 12 wins under his belt and all manner of one-off gongs to sit alongside the Six Nations trophy in the Twickenham cabinet. But Jones is not retrospective, nor one for drifting into blissful nostalgia.I never really thought about it, Jones said when asked about whether he ever thought theyd go the year unbeaten when he took the job. All I thought about was getting better every day.We wanted to work harder and get the players to aspire to be better. Weve move along that track. If we win tomorrow we still have a long way to go and we know that. We want to be the number one team in the world and to achieve that we need to keep getting better every day.Saturdays Test against the Wallabies should be their hardest game this year. England are without seven frontline players and Australia will be channelling the hurt from their 3-0 series loss in the summer and will have taken notice of this weeks talk over their illegal scrum and what their coach Michael Cheika has had to say about Jones, Glen Ella and general Australian bonhomie.Jones hasnt taken the bait this week -- he even dodgged commenting on getting the clown treatment from one Australian newspaper -- but it has been cantankerous between the two camps this year.ddddddddddddBefore England arrived on Australian soil for their series in the summer, Jones had lit the blue touch paper saying he was expecting a coordinated attack on his side from the local media.The local customs in Brisbane gave him a going over but that was his only set back as he masterfully controlled the agenda, leaving a string of hushed pundits in his wake and Cheika uncharacteristically quiet as England stormed to a 3-0 win.Australian pride had been dented by one of their own but this weekends Test should be a different prospect. In the summer Jones talked of his England side adopting a Bodyline approach, but on Saturday he is expecting Australia to bring their own Jeff Thomson and Dennis Lillee-esque fast-bowlers.Look, to beat them weve got to break them mentally and physically, Jones said. We know theyre going to come out in the first 20 minutes like theres no tomorrow. Weve practised, were equipped to handle it and well win the game in the last 20.Jones is expecting an improved Australia side. He feels Stephen Larkham, the Wallabies backs coach, has learned from his mistakes in June and is happy again in his skin operating with a more Australian style of attack, focused around being flatter on the line and more options off either shoulder.But Cheika says any off-field sideshows this week will have no bearing on Saturdays match and it is down to the players to do the talking. All those fun and games [with Eddie] are over now, Cheika said. The game will be decided by the best team of players on the day.All the other bits are sidelines and weve been concentrating on making sure our players are in the best possible spot to play the best possible rugby on Saturday. The match is right in our sights and the real focus behind the scenes has been on making sure weve got the right tactics, getting the selection right and the other stuff is a bit of a laugh.When the dust settles on Saturdays match, Cheika will have holstered the machine gun Jones says he has unloaded this week and the England coach will be, in his own words, sad because the teams got a great spirit and were going to break up with their next match in February.But for two hours on a frosty, bitterly cold December afternoon everything will be on the line at Twickenham. England will be chasing their slice of history while Australia will be doing their best to ruin the party.Its their last chance of redemption because theyve had a tough year and if they win this Test, they can go home happy, Jones said. If we win this Test then we create history. ' ' '