The 49ers offense seemed like a blur all night long as the Rams could not find any answers defensively. Photo by Los Angeles Rams.
By Matt Barrero, Assistant Sports Editor
SAN FRANCISCO 24, LOS ANGELES 16
After a blowout loss at home to the Miami Dolphins last week, the San Francisco 49ers came into Sunday night with a number of reasons to play their best game of the season. From the sheer embarrassment of losing to the Dolphins to hosting their rival, Los Angeles Rams, and the 49ers shined brighter under the lights this week beating the Rams 24-16.
OFFENSIVE PERFORMANCE –
For an offense that has averaged 25 points per game through five weeks of play, scoring only once in the first half was not part of the recipe for success. The Rams trailed 14-6 halfway through the second quarter after Jared Goff completed a 10-yard pass to Robert Woods who looked like Superman himself laying out for the impressive grab. A blocked PAT left the Rams down eight for a good seven minutes as the 49ers drove down 75 yards on their next possession to take a 21-6 lead into halftime. A field goal at the beginning of the third quarter and a late 40-yard touchdown pass from Goff to Josh Reynolds with about three minutes left in the game was all the Rams offense could produce the entire second half. When punter Johnny Hekker is on the field more often than the Rams offense you know it won’t be a joyful outcome. Hekker had a busy evening, punting six times out of the Rams 10 offensive drives.
Goff ended his night completing 19 of his 38 passes for 198 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. The road version of the Jared Goff we had become to know and love went missing in San Francisco. This was the first time on the road this season Goff did not throw for at least 260 yards and was the first time all season he finished with under 200 yards total passing. Darrell Henderson Jr. led the rushing attack once again, finishing with 14 carries for 88 yards but did not account for a touchdown. This was another first this season, as Henderson had at least one touchdown in every road game up to this past Sunday. Of the receivers, tight end Tyler Higbee led the team with 56 receiving yards with Woods and Reynolds accounting for the only scores of the night.
DEFENSIVE PERFORMANCE –
While the Rams defense stifled a pretty formidable 49ers run game, Jimmy Garoppolo bounced back after a subpar performance vs Miami the week prior which meant bad news for the Rams pass defense. Garoppolo ended his night completing 23 of his 33 passes for 268 yards and three touchdowns all in the first half. ‘Jimmy G’ also did not throw an interception the entire night as the Rams defense faltered and could not come up with an answer. On the receiving end of those passes, George Kittle finished with seven catches for 109 yards and a touchdown and Deebo Samuel finished with six catches for 66 yards and a touchdown as well. The third touchdown was completed to Brandon Aiyuk who only had two catches for 12 yards.
Aaron Donald was quieted for the first time in a few weeks as the 49ers offensive line stepped up and only allowed the big man to have two tackles and no sacks the entire game. Micah Kiser and John Johnson III led the defense with 13 total tackles each, but the defense did not get into the 49ers backfield all night accounting for zero sacks, the first time they were held without a sack since Week 2 vs the Eagles.
Overall, this was perhaps the worst game the Rams played as a team all season. The upside to playing your worst game in Week 6 is the obvious factor that all you can go is up. Here’s to better play and a team capable of producing and overcoming some adversity.
FINAL THOUGHTS –
Short Leash Sam- On Tuesday, the Rams signed kicker Kai Forbath to their active roster off the Chicago Bears’ practice squad. Rookie kicker Sam Sloman has not been as consistent as the team wanted him to be hence the signing of a veteran Forbath and after not re-signing Greg “The Leg” Zuerlein in the offseason the Rams were taking a chance with the rookie. The experiment seems to be over with Forbath coming in and has had a solid career overall. The former UCLA kicker has made 131 out of 151 field goal attempts (86.8%) and has made 183 of 195 extra point attempts (93.8%). Look for Forbath to make his debut against his former employer Chicago in Week 7.
Coincidence or Consistency- So far this season the Rams have a pattern of winning two games then losing one. So far, they are 4-2 and if the pattern holds the Rams should win their next two games vs Chicago and Miami. Additionally, if the pattern continues throughout the whole season, the Rams will end the season at 11-5 which should be enough to make the playoffs, and that’s a hot take.
INJURIES –
Linebacker Obo Okoronkwo (elbow) was placed on injured reserve on Tuesday.
COMING UP –
The Rams (4-2) will again be in the spotlight but this time it will be Monday Night Football to take on the Chicago Bears. The Bears (5-1) have had an equally impressive, and somewhat surprising, season with five wins through the first six weeks and are coming off a road victory over the Carolina Panthers 23-16. This will also be the first time SoFi Stadium gets to shine bright on the infamous ESPN broadcast. Kickoff is scheduled for 5:15 p.m. PST on your local ESPN channel.
The 49ers (3-3) will travel to Foxboro, Mass. and visit Cam Newton and the New England Patriots (2-3) who are coming off an ugly loss to the visiting Denver Broncos. Kicker Brandon McManus set a Broncos’ franchise record and single-handedly defeated the Pats with six field goals and a final score of 18-12. The 49ers/Patriots game will take place on Sunday (10/25) at 1:25 p.m. PST on your local CBS station.
