Let’s be honest here, OK? We are playing for a draft slot now. That’s it. There’s nothing else to play for besides “are we picking second or third?”

So why play it safe?

Spags, your job is on the line. Josh McDaniels, if Spags goes, chances are, you are gone with him. So throw caution to the wind and try to put some points on the board.

I’d love to see a game plan where Lance Kendricks is the focal point of the offense, because that would give Bradford some easy throws, and it would soften up the middle of the field.

If the D has to worry about the middle of the field, that opens up some running room for Steven Jackson, and it also creates more one-on-one chances for Brandon Lloyd on the outside.

At least, that’s how it works when I’m playing Madden, but hey, what do I know? I’m not a football coach. I’m just saying, the Rams are boring to watch. If we’re going to lose, why not lose trying to make plays? Why does it always look like we’re so afraid to take chances?

Shake it up. Try something crazy. Who knows, it just might work. Either way, it can’t be worse than watching the crap we’ve been exposed to so far this season.

Spags, go for the win this week. Stop calling the game like you’re afraid to lose.

Jim Harbaugh delivered exactly what the San Francisco 49ers
hired him for back in January: a playoff berth and NFC West title
in his first season running the show. So much for the lockout
slowing him down.

Left tackle Joe Staley delivered the celebratory Gatordade
dousing on Harbaugh’s head in the closing moments of Sunday’s 26-0
win over the St. Louis Rams that wrapped up that long-awaited
division title for a once-proud franchise determined to return to
the glory days of Jerry Rice and Joe Montana, Steve Young and Roger
Craig.

Frank Gore helped run San Francisco (10-2) right into the
postseason, becoming the 49ers’ career rushing leader by passing
late Hall of Famer Joe Perry and finishing with 73 yards.

Alex Smith threw second-half touchdowns of 52 and 56 yards to
Michael Crabtree and Kyle Williams and David Akers kicked four
field goals to help Harbaugh join George Seifert (1989) and Steve
Mariucci (1997) as the only rookie coaches in franchise history to
win the division.

The only downer came when star linebacker Patrick Willis left
the game in the first half with a right hamstring injury.

Rams quarterback A.J. Feeley struggled in place of injured
starter Sam Bradford for the reeling Rams (2-10), who watched
several more key players go down.

San Francisco became the NFL’s second team to secure a playoff
berth behind defending Super Bowl champion Green Bay.

The 49ers bounced back from a discouraging 16-6 loss at
Baltimore on Thanksgiving night against the Ravens and Harbaugh’s
big brother, John, with another methodical victory. Smith was
sacked nine times in that game and four more Sunday.

Despite further problems converting in the red zone early, San
Francisco shut out an opponent for the first time since a 35-0 home
win at Candlestick Park on Oct. 4, 2009. That was also the Rams’
last shutout.

The Niners also avenged a late-season loss from 2010 that was
still plenty fresh. They had won five straight before losing at St.
Louis in the second-to-last week. It was after that game when coach
Mike Singletary was fired. That led to the high-profile hiring of
Harbaugh in January. And the 49ers’ transformation began in
earnest.

San Francisco’s impressive season might help shed that “NFC
Worst” stigma from the West.

Smith, who didn’t start that last game against the Rams,
completed 17 of 23 passes for 274 yards with four sacks and no
interceptions to finish with a career-high 142.3 quarterback
rating. He gave way to rookie backup Colin Kaepernick midway
through the fourth.

Gore ran for 2 yards early in the second quarter to give him
7,345 career yards rushing, moving him past Perry (7,344) for most
in franchise history.

The 28-year-old Gore, a two-time Pro Bowl selection in his
seventh NFL season, has said it was a goal for this season to
become the career rushing leader _ though getting to the playoffs
for the first time has always been the top priority.

Same for Smith, Vernon Davis, Willis and all the others who
haven’t played on the NFL’s big stage before.

Gore and his teammates are wearing No. 34 helmet decals this
season in honor of Perry, the first player with back-to-back
1,000-yard rushing seasons and nicknamed “The Jet” for his
sensational speed. He died in April at age 84.

Willis watched the second half on the sideline in a
sweatsuit.

The four-time Pro Bowler landed awkwardly after missing a tackle
on fullback Brit Miller, who made an 18-yard completion from A.J.
Feeley with 4:28 left in the first quarter. Willis’ body twisted as
he fell to the ground at Candlestick Park and he stayed down for a
short time as trainers ran out to check on him, then helped him
limp off the field.

Akers kicked a 36-yard field goal on San Francisco’s second
possession of the game to go up 3-0 with 4:54 left in the first
quarter.

Ray McDonald knocked the ball away from Feeley midway through
the second quarter to force a fumble and Aldon Smith recovered deep
in St. Louis territory. That gave the 49ers first-and-goal on the 6
but they again failed to get in the end zone, settling for Akers’
19-yard field goal.

Akers booted a 28-yarder 1:41 before halftime for his 31st field
goal of the year, topping Jeff Wilkins’ single-season franchise
mark of 30 he set in 1996.

That gave the 49ers nine field goals _ with only three TDs _ in
the last 14 trips to the red zone before Crabtree’s TD catch.

Davis dropped a would-be 40-yard touchdown catch in the end zone
late in the second quarter on a perfectly thrown pass from Smith.
Davis later had a catch and fumble for San Francisco, which hasn’t
scored a first-half touchdown since Week 9 at Washington.

Rams DE Chris Long’s second-quarter sack on Smith gave him one
in six straight games.

The San Francisco 49ers will look to rebound from their November 24 loss to the Baltimore Ravens in a matchup against the St. Louis Rams. San Francisco will try to clinch the NFC West division championship and a playoff berth with a win. At 9-2 this would allow them to clinch the division with still four week left to play in the regular season.

The Rams have struggled greatly this season and have seen a regression from quarterback Sam Bradford(notes). Bradford has not played nearly as well in his second season and the team is just 2-9 through the first 11 games. For St. Louis, receiver Brandon Lloyd(notes) has played very well for the team since they traded for him and is always a downfield threat. Lloyd has scored a touchdown in each of the last three games. Steven Jackson is also a very good player and is a threat in any game. San Francisco’s defense is playing historically well against the run and should be able to continue that this week. This will leave the Rams very limited offensively in this game.

49er fans should pleased to hear that fullback Bruce Miller(notes) is likely to return in this game from a concussion. Without Miller the rushing attack struggled against Baltimore. Miller will look to help open up running lanes for Frank Gore(notes) and Kendall Hunter(notes). San Francisco should have no trouble moving the ball up and down the field and should be able to control the game against the Rams.

San Francisco should be able to use this game and then final month of the season to improve the offensive line and other areas they have struggled.

In this game fans should expect to see San Francisco return to their style of physical football and control the game from start to finish. They are clearly a superior team and will prove that on the field. This is a big game for the team to show that they can mentally and physical rebound from a big loss. I thin Jim Harbaugh and his staff will have the team ready and they will respond to the challenge.

Prediction: 49ers 27, Rams 13

Kyle Rapoza is a Featured Contributor for the Yahoo! Contributor Network and grew up in Northern California rooting for the 49ers teams led by Joe Montana and Steve Young. Follow him on Twitter @kyler11.

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It was a career game for Beanie Wells against the St. Louis Rams on Sunday (Nov. 27). In a rivalry game for the Arizona Cardinals, Wells was the key to victory in this one. He had his best game in the NFL, and could end up having the best statistics of any player in Week 12.

In a game where Cardinals quarterback John Skelton was having a number of problems with being consistent on the field, Wells was the guy who kept this from becoming an embarrassing loss. Wells rushed for 228 yards on just 27 carries, scoring one touchdown on the ground to really help out his team. He certainly helped out any fantasy football owner that had him playing this week as well, because this game made him the highest scoring running back to this point on Sunday.

Wells averaged 8.4 yards per carry against the Rams, and made it look like the Rams were just standing still on defense. This might not seem like a surprising result to many NFL fans that have been paying attention this year, because St. Louis gives up a league-worst 148 rushing yards per game. It’s not often that one man totally tears apart a defense like this though, even if some expected this to turn into a good day from Wells.

For Wells, he certainly hasn’t had many games that would indicate he could go off for more than 200 yards in one game. He had only rushed for more than 100 yards in a game one time this year, and that was back in Week 4 against the New York Giants. In that game, he had 138 yards and 3 touchdowns on 27 carries, but the Cardinals still ended up losing it. Outside of that game, his high was 93 yards against the Washington Redskins back in Week 2 of the season.

This game really pumps up the season numbers for Wells, who came into this game with just 621 rushing yards for the season. Adding 228 from Sunday gives him 849 for the season, and certainly makes it possible for him to get to 1,000 yards over the next two weeks. Next up for Arizona is the Dallas Cowboys, so it doesn’t seem likely he will get the 151 yards he needs in that game alone.

This was certainly a big improvement from the 33 yards that Wells posted against the San Francisco 49ers last week. It was also a vast improvement over the 20 yards on 10 attempts that he had against the Rams during their Week 9 game, but it could show what Wells can do if the team just gives him the rushing attempts to make it possible.

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*Ryan Christopher DeVault is a football fan that primarily follows the Seattle Seahawks, but still enjoys watching great football no matter who is on the field.

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The St. Louis Rams’ offensive line is having trouble in all phases of the game.

The wide receivers are having trouble getting open, and when they have gotten open, dropped passes and errant throws, some born of pressure, have prevented the team from capitalizing consistently.

Running back Steven Jackson remains the Rams’ best player on offense, but instead of building the game plan around him Sunday, coaches regularly removed him from the backfield altogether, conceding they could not run against Seattle. Turns out they couldn’t pass agains the Seahawks, either. Their lone touchdown came when a Seattle communication error led the Seahawks to play the wrong coverage.

The Rams take a 2-8 record into their final six games. They are down to their third-string left tackle. They have benched their veteran center. They are close to placing right tackle Jason Smith, their 2009 first-round pick, on injured reserve amid mounting evidence they’re no worse without him.

St. Louis has scored 120 points in 10 games, and that includes 11 points scored by the defense. Quarterback Sam Bradford has taken nearly as many sacks in eight starts this season (31) as he took in 16 starts last season (34). That reflects protection issues as well as the team’s stronger emphasis on looking for big plays down the field.

Offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels went into this season excited to install an offense that would allow the team to alter its approach dramatically from week to week, based on the opponent. One consequence, however, is that the team lacks a core identity on offense. Even the success Jackson has enjoyed on the ground has come largely on shotgun runs — manufactured yardage, not the kind generated through traditional run blocking.

Coach Steve Spagnuolo offered no solutions during his news conference with reporters Monday. If the Rams had answers, of course, we’d see different results on the field. For now, it’s looking like the team is headed toward an offseason overhaul of its offensive line and whatever changes ownership might demand.

I’ve put together a chart comparing the Rams’ scoring average this season to those for McDaniels’ past teams.