For the second time this season, the Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers will square off in a rivalry matchup. Only this time, there are major playoff implications for just one of the teams.

The 49ers are 4-6 and ravaged by injuries, with their postseason chances slipping away by the week. But they beat the Rams back in Week 6 despite missing several players due to injury.

The Rams will try to end their three-game losing skid to the 49ers on Sunday afternoon at home, but it won’t come easy. We previewed this Week 12 tilt with Kyle Madson of Niners Wire, asking him five questions ahead of Sunday’s game.

1 How has this defense coped with the big losses of Nick Bosa and Solomon Thomas?

They’ve actually cobbled together a pretty good pass defense thanks in large part to the play of Jason Verrett at cornerback. San Francisco has had injuries all over their defense, but defensive end Kerry Hyder Jr. has led the way for a pass rush that does just enough, and Verrett has helped stabilize one cornerback spot while the 49ers dealt with a rash of injuries in the secondary.

Linebacker Fred Warner elevating his game to an All-Pro level has been an enormous help too considering how vital a good coverage linebacker against modern NFL passing games. They’re still a pretty good unit, but they’re not close to as dominant as they were a season ago.

2 Who’s the biggest offensive playmaker the Rams have to worry about?

If Raheem Mostert plays and is healthy, it’s him. He’s just a big play waiting to happen every time he touches the football. Another player to keep an eye on though is rookie receiver Brandon Aiyuk. He may not play because he’s on the Reserve/COVID-19 list, but he’s been excellent over his last three games. He has 21 catches for 281 yards and two touchdowns on 31 targets in those contests. He’s also Pro Football Focus’ second-highest graded rookie WR this season. Aiyuk is just a really good player and the 49ers have done a nice job getting the ball to him the last few weeks.

3 Can this offense still move the ball with Nick Mullens at QB?

Sometimes! They’re definitely capable of it, but the consistency just isn’t there. Mullens is abysmal under pressure so any time a play breaks down it’s difficult for the 49ers to scrape a positive play out of it. When he’s working within the construct of the offense, especially on the scripted plays to open the game, Mullens looks like a real NFL quarterback.

When the onus is placed on him to make plays, it becomes more of a crapshoot. Should Mostert get them going on the ground, life becomes much easier for Mullens and the 49ers offense, but he’s not a player who’s going to beat a team as good as L.A. just by dropping back and slinging it.

4 The 49ers neutralized Aaron Donald last time around? Can they do it again?

Hahahahaha. Probably not. Getting an all-time great defensive tackle twice in a year is really, really difficult. They’ll likely continue those wide running plays, jet sweeps and quick throws to try to neutralize Donald, but I expect the Rams to keep this one closer and probably lead at certain points. That’ll make Mullens sit in the pocket and throw, and when that happens, Donald will eat.

It’s also worth noting left tackle Trent Williams is on the Reserve/COVID-19 list with a positive test. If Justin Skule starts at left tackle, expect Donald to kick out wide some and go to work on the second-year sixth-round pick.

5 What’s your prediction for Sunday?

I generally try to skip the homer picks in these, but I’m putting aside the teams and just looking at this from a “this is how the NFL goes” standpoint. The 49ers are getting healthier and coming off a Bye week, while the Rams are coming off a Monday Night Football game across the country. There are a lot of things on San Francisco’s side before even mentioning the returns of Mostert, Deebo Samuel, Richard Sherman, Tevin Coleman and possibly Jeff Wilson Jr. Jared Goff should be better in this one than he was in Week 6, and Donald should be more disruptive, but I think the 49ers have enough starters coming back to take advantage of the fortunate scheduling. San Francisco doesn’t have many wins left on their schedule, but I think they get this one in the Rams’ final head-scratching loss before the playoff run.

49ers 26, Rams 24