Yeah, this is not going to be a good Monday. The San Francisco 49ers suffered their first NFC West divisional loss on Sunday to the Los Angeles Rams. The Rams are good, and the 49ers—specifically their defense—are
snakebit with injuries. The loss puts the Rams into a tie with the Seahawks. The two will play in Week 11 in an important game that could have dire consequences.
As for the 49ers? There are some overreactions on the team, but the key takeaway is that they are injured, especially on defense. That means the offense has to go lights out, and even then, that might not help them in the scheme of things. The offense scored 26 points, but it was not lights out. They had their chances, but the Rams are just better, and without the defensive pieces the 49ers had in their first game against them, it’s understandable this is the result.
I’m sure everyone wants to go back and say Sean McVay is a better coach than Kyle Shanahan or something. Uh, no. The Rams got one of the best handicaps in the league this week with the 49ers’ defense as hobbled as it is. In fact, they were clawing their way back into it despite their injuries.
As for the Rams? Well…
Los Angeles Rams (7-2)
I mean, what did you expect? The 49ers don’t have Fred Warner, Mykel Williams, and Nick Bosa. The Rams have one of the best offenses in the league. An offense that had little trouble torching the 49ers when they did have those players in their last matchup.
If you think about this level-headedly, this result should not surprise you at all. If the 49ers managed to win this, it’d be an embarrassment for the Rams, and they may as well announce Kyle Shanahan as coach of the year right then and there. Yes, the 49ers’ offense is improved, but the defense is much, much worse. The Rams had little trouble getting it to 21-0, and the 49ers had chances not to let things get out of hand. Jauan Jennings fumbling the ball is one of those things you can’t do when your talent is far less than the other team on the field. Tackling fundamentals, 12 men on the field, things like that, also won’t help.
If you missed the television broadcast, it was mostly about them praising Matthew Stafford’s career and his 400th touchdown pass. I’m not going to rehash the whole game, because I don’t think we need reminders. But I am going to say: the 49ers are fine. They lack depth, as I pointed out during the preseason. If you look at these situations, I’d say it could have been worse. I mean, it could have been the Cardinals…
Seattle Seahawks (7-2)/Arizona Cardinals (3-6)
THAT is a team that has issues. If you thought the 49ers going into a 21-0 deficit in the first half was bad, you just needed to see the Cardinals to feel (marginally) better about it. Sam Darnold threw a touchdown pass in the first quarter to go up 7-0. On the next possession, Jacoby Brissett fumbled the ball, and the Seahawks returned it for a touchdown. So now it’s 14-0.
Seattle gets the ball back again and scores once more. It’s 21-0.
Jacoby Brissett fumbles (again) and it’s returned for a touchdown. Now it’s 28-0. Oh, we’re not out of the first half yet.
No the Seahawks got 35 points in the first half. And it wasn’t until there were 37 seconds left in the said half that Arizona finally scored a touchdown. At least the 49ers kept it within 14 points around this time in their game.
Final score: 44-22. Seahawks. I mentioned last week that Brissett might be starting more for the Cardinals, and it seems like that may still happen as the Cardinals and former starter Kyler Murray are hedging towards a separation. Murray is on IR, so they can’t go back to him after the debacle we saw today, at least until he comes off IR. I also said Brissett isn’t the answer, which means the Cardinals may draft a quarterback in 2026 or make a trade.
Anyway you slice it, after Sunday, the Cardinals may be looking for a new quarterback and maybe a new coach as well.
Onto Week 11
The NFC West will be having all divisional games for the second week in a row. The 49ers will be traveling to face the Arizona Cardinals. I know a lot of you are going to say the 49ers should destroy the Cardinals because Seattle did. Seattle also has their defense mostly healthy, while San Francisco is getting the backups of backups ready. The 49ers do need to win this, but I doubt it’s anything like we saw the Seahawks do.
The Seahawks and Rams will face off in a crucial NFC West game. This is one of those games I don’t know who to root for, but I’m actually intrigued to watch. I never say that about other teams in the division.
The 49ers are luckily on an easier part of the schedule and don’t have to play the Rams again, only the Seahawks once more. As I’ve said, this team would benefit from playoff experience.
1st: Seattle Seahawks; Next: at Los Angeles Rams
2nd: Los Angeles Rams; Next: vs Seattle Seahawks
3rd: San Francisco 49ers; Next: at Arizona Cardinals
4th: Arizona Cardinals; Next: vs San Francisco 49ers
