Not to spoil the ending, but Thursday night belongs to Mac Jones.
The San Francisco 49ers somehow, someway pulled out a 26-23 overtime win in Los Angeles, defeating their division rival, the Rams, to move to 3-0 against the NFC West and 4-1 on the season.
There was no Brock Purdy, George Kittle, Ricky Pearsall, or Jauan Jennings, but that didn’t bother Jones, as every time he got knocked down, he got up.
But with as good as Jones was, every time the 49ers needed a play to be made, somebody stepped up.
We start our three stars with the player who might have made the play of the game:
Third star: DT Alfred Collins
Multiple players fit the role to qualify for Thursday night’s third star. Eddy Pineiro, Christian McCaffrey, and several players on defense fit the spotlight, but only one earned it. And it only took one play for Collins to gain the recognition.
Collins’ stat line was relatively pedestrian, with two tackles and a quarterback hit, but he found himself playing in a larger role in the second half, with Kalia Davis exiting the game with a hand injury at the half. Not only did Collins find himself playing a larger role, but he found himself in the exact right spot in the right moment to make the play of the game.
With the 49ers clinging to a three-point lead as the game was coming to an end, the Rams looked primed to either tie or win the game. Logically, Sean McVay had his sights set on the win, needing only five plays to move the Rams offense from their own 35-yard line to the 49ers’ three. Nearing the goal line with timeouts, McVay called to give the ball to Kyren Williams to try to brute force his way to a Los Angeles lead with a minute left in the game.
The hole was there, Williams hit it, and seemed poised to get the score. But, out of nowhere, came the big right paw of Collins, who punched the ball out at the one-yard line and recovered the ball himself, halting the Rams’ drive just short of paydirt.
While the Rams would get the ball back and tie the game to send it to overtime, the 49ers likely lose on Thursday night without Collins’ knockout right hook.
Second star: WR Kendrick Bourne
The 49ers don’t win this game without Bourne, full stop.
No Ricky Pearsall. No Jauan Jennings. No George Kittle. It figured to be a strength in numbers game for the receiving corps with the ball being spread out. That isn’t what Bourne envisioned.
Bourne led all 49ers pass-catchers with 10 receptions on 11 targets with a career-high 142 yards in a much-needed performance with lackluster games from nearly every other 49ers offensive weapon. Not only that, every time Bourne touched the ball, it was an important play.
Take his first reception, for example. The 49ers’ opening drive was a long one, going 72 yards on eight plays for the opening touchdown. Twice on the drive, a 49ers penalty backed up the offense on first down. The second of those saw a Colton McKivitz hold set up a first-and-20 right at midfield. Jones found Bourne on a short pass, and the receiver made a few Rams defenders miss, turning upfield for a gain of 35 yards. Four plays later, the 49ers would be in the end zone.
Fast forward to the fourth quarter in a tie ballgame. The 49ers offense faced an important third-and-1 at their own 11-yard line. A Rams stop would mean a punt and solid field position, where the 49ers had the ball. Again, Jones looked for Bourne, who took the short pass and got upfield for a gain of 16, not only giving the 49ers a first down but also getting them out of the shadow of their own end zone.
Every time the 49ers needed a play, Bourne was there to deliver. Of his 10 catches, eight resulted in first downs, with two of those first downs coming on a third down to extend the drive.
In a game where the 49ers were without their main target in Pearsall and their main third-down target in Jennings, Bourne played the role of both with his clutch catches all Thursday night.
First star: QB Mac Jones
I don’t know if any words can do justice to Jones’ performance on Thursday night.
Through the pain, through the hits, and through it all, Jones’ performance might have been the greatest single-game performance from a 49ers quarterback since Colin Kaepernick roasted the Green Bay Packers in the 2013 Divisional Round.
Jones threw 49 passes on Thursday night, completing 33 of them for 342 yards with two touchdowns and, most importantly, zero interceptions. And he did all of that while taking the beating of a lifetime.
Jones came up limping after taking a third-quarter hit from Jared Verse on a play where he connected with Bourne for a gain of 19 yards. Seven plays later, Verse would again meet Jones, this time taking the quarterback to the ground, but this time, the quarterback would be slow to get up. It seemed Jones’ night might have been over as he lay on the ground clutching the knee already supported by a heavy brace.
But Jones persisted and stayed in the game.
And the beating only continued. It seemed every time Jones was hit, the 49ers had to use a giant spatula to peel his body off the SoFi turf, but the quarterback never wavered, taking each hit and continuing.
The quarterback never quit, and the 49ers’ offense responded every time Jones picked himself up. Thursday night should be remembered as the Mac Jones game, as Jones put together one of the most memorable games by a 49ers quarterback in recent history.
Throughout the season, I will track the three stars of the season, tallying up points for each star award using a complex scoring system: three points for being the first star, two for the second, and one for the third. Through Week 3, the standings are:
- LB Fred Warner – 8 points
- QB Mac Jones – 5 points
- WR Ricky Pearsall – 4 points
