An inside look at Sunday’s Rams-49ers NFC Championship game in Los Angeles:

49ers WR/RB Deebo Samuel vs. Rams CB Jalen Ramsey, et al.

If Samuel were a typical No. 1 receiver, then the Rams might just lock up Ramsey on him in a one-on-one battle. No can do, however, because Samuel has more carries (20) than catches (six) in the 49ers’ first two playoff games, after the numbers were close (77 catches to 59 carries) in the regular season. And he will run on third downs between the tackles, not just around the edge on gadget motion.

“That’s a game plan in itself,” Ramsey said. “We have Cooper Kupp, who is one of, if not the most, dominant offensive player in the league. But Deebo is right in that conversation with him. Whatever they ask him to do, he’s able to do it at a high level. We have to find ways to limit his physicalness, and yards after contact and yards after the catch.”

The best way to neutralize the pass rush of Aaron Donald, Von Miller and Leonard Floyd, and the lock-down coverage of Jalen Ramsey, is to run-run-run. Maybe not to the extreme of Bill Belichick’s three-passes game plan that fueled a Patriots upset of the Bills in the regular season … but close.

49ers 17, Rams 16

Blue Akers: What an incredible story it was when Rams running back Cam Akers — who tore an Achilles tendon in July — shattered the expected recovery timeline for such an injury by making his season debut in Week 18. Akers led the Rams in carries in each of the first two playoff games and wasn’t benched for losing two fumbles — one at the goal line — against the Buccaneers.

Darrell Henderson, who was the No. 1 back most of the season, is on injured reserve. Sony Michel, who led the team in rushing, has been minimized. But coach Sean McVay’s way is to ride his most talented players without losing confidence.

“Sometimes if you’ve got the right kind of guys — like I have no doubt in my mind Cam is — it can just kind of continue to lock you back in,” McVay said of the fumbles. “You can be able to learn a lesson, but not the hard way where we’re not playing anymore.”

‘Scary’ but true: The 49ers added a wrinkle to one of staple runs in coach Kyle Shanahan’s playbook over the past 10 years last week by having All-Pro left tackle Trent Williams report as an eligible tight end who motioned across the line of scrimmage against the Packers. With a head of steam, the 6-foot-5, 320-pounder flattened his targets both times.

Shanahan said the idea originated from Williams as a half-joke “a long time ago.” It was only practiced one time before the game.

“He’s probably the best guy you can imagine ever doing it,” Shanahan said. “I can’t believe it’s legal. It’s scary for me to even watch. … I thought it was one of the cooler plays I’d seen, just because of who was on it, not because of the play we ran.”

Williams (ankle sprain) was injured later in the game and held back in practice. If he plays, as expected, watch out for the locomotive.

Do it for Donald: One of the Rams’ motivations is to win a Super Bowl for Aaron Donald, the future Hall of Famer.

Donald, 30, is a seven-time All-Pro and three-time Defensive Player of the Year with plenty of good seasons remaining if he so chooses.

“This building wants to win for Aaron Donald to create more mystique to his legacy and what he’s done,” defensive coordinator Raheem Morris said.

Donald had five tackles and one quarterback hit when the Rams lost to the Patriots in Super Bowl LIII.

“I think I’ve accomplished a lot in a short amount of time in this league,” Donald said. “Honestly, the only thing I think I’m lacking is to be a world champion.”

Look, Mom! One hand!: Two masters of the one-handed catch will be on opposite sides: Rams receiver Odell Beckham Jr., who made the most famous one-handed catch ever with the Giants in 2014, and 49ers tight end George Kittle, who has a highlight reel full of one-handed catches.

But Shanahan is a fundamentalist at heart.

“I know guys work on it. I’m not a big fan of it,” he said. “When you work on one-handed catches, you train yourself not to run through the ball.

“And I’m about the mindset, that it’ll never be a one-handed catch because I’m not going to slow down at all and I’m going to run through every single ball and make sure I get there. If that’s your mindset on everything and then you react to a one-handed catch, because it has to be that way, that’s kind of what I like.”