The Rams have gone to great lengths to try to keep their home field advantage for Sunday's NFC Championship Game against the 49ers. The team has restricted public ticket sales to residents of the Greater Los Angeles Region, a move that drew criticism from 49ers receiver Deebo Samuel.
Los Angeles coach Sean McVay has also lobbied for Rams fans to keep their tickets for Sunday's game. McVay is hoping to have a larger home field advantage than his team had back in Week 18, as roughly one-third of the SoFi Stadium crowd was made up of 49ers fans during San Francisco's 27-24 overtime time. McVay is hoping to replicate the home field advantage his team enjoyed during their 34-11 win over the Arizona Cardinals in the wild card round.
"I thought the Monday night atmosphere was electric and looking to create something [similar] — and even that much more — for the NFC Championship," McVay said on Monday, via Pro Football Talk. "[I'm] really grateful for those Rams fans. Hold onto those tickets and it'll be much appreciated. But our guys are looking forward to putting on a good show against a great opponent. Can't wait to be able to do it and don't sell those tickets!"
While he is hoping to see far less of them on Sunday, McVay praised the 49ers' fan base, which made its presence felt at chilly Lambeau Field this past weekend during San Francisco's divisional round upset win over the Packers.
"What catches you off guard is, they do a great job traveling," McVay said. "They got a really loyal fan base. They've got a great tradition, and history, and it's a short trip. So, credit to them. They made it difficult where in a lot of instances, you're kind of absent of your verbal communication. If they get as loud as they were when our offense was on the field — in certain parts of the field it was really noisy. It was really difficult to operate. And so, you almost have to handle that situation like you would an away game."
The Rams will need all the help they can get against a 49ers team that swept them during the regular season. While having a partisan crowd will help, the Rams will have to look inward if they're going to figure out a way to stop Samuel, who tallied 273 total yards and three touchdowns against Los Angeles during the regular season.
