I never lost faith that the Los Angeles Rams would find a way to beat the San Francisco 49ers on Thursday night.
LA entered the evening as 8.5 point favorites with Brock Purdy, George Kittle, Ricky Pearsall,
and Jauan Jennings all sidelined. Even after the 49ers built a sizeable lead I still assumed Matthew Stafford would turn in a vintage fourth quarter performance and dig out a win. If these players were healthy the Rams are still probably the more talented and complete team. San Francisco’s weak spots are obvious and were evident throughout this game.
Stafford certainly did his part. The defense also got stops at the end of the game to give him the ball back.
Instead, Stafford’s offensive teammates continued to commit fatal errors that ultimately handed victory to their rivals. The Rams fell at home 23-26, and the 49ers are growing a division lead with a 4-1 record and wins over each of the other NFC West teams.
Their lead is not insurmountable. There is plenty of season left. This loss will still sting for a long while.
Winners
Matthew Stafford, QB
I’ve been critical of Stafford to start the season. I thought he turned in an elite performance in the opener against the Texans and has been rocky since. He bucked the trend on Thursday night and turned in one of his best performances in his career with the Rams.
While there were some misses—and there always will be for every NFL quarterback—I have no major complaints with how Stafford played against the 49ers. He had plenty of time on most occasions to sit in the pocket and either push the ball downfield or find his checkdown (usually Williams or Corum). The veteran willed his team back from a sizeable deficit and did everything in his power to win the game.
It’s worth noting that the Rams foolishly took the ball out of Stafford’s hands on key occasions and that decision backfired. The first was the goal line fumble by Williams where LA had the advantage in terms of soon taking the lead. On fourth down in overtime, Sean McVay made the decision to hand the ball to Williams and he had no shot at getting the first down. The head coach should have stuck with the hot hand.
It was a heroic effort and vintage Stafford performance but will be forgotten about in his Rams legacy because the team ended up in the losing column. That is a shame.
Josaiah Stewart, EDGE
On a night where the 11th overall pick, Mykel Williams, was on the opposing sideline, Stewart was the better rookie EDGE player. Stewart is playing a lot of snaps for Los Angeles and making them count. He even made a key play in coverage on what seemed like a simulated pressure (on initial watch) and then bailed to the short middle area of the field. He almost picked off Mac Jones but instead forced an important incompletion that contributed to getting the ball back to the offense.
Terrance Ferguson, TE
Tyler Higbee was inactive for this game. While Colby Parkinson played often, he did not make much of an impact as a pass catcher (and hasn’t during his tenure in LA). Davis Allen got the bulk of the receiving work by catching both of his targets for 24 yards. It was a strong night for Allen.
But Terrance Ferguson recorded the first catch of his NFL career for 21 yards on third down. It was a throw that took a lot of trust from Stafford to make, and the rookie rewarded him by sailing above the defender and coming down with the ball in a contested catch situation.
It might only have been a single play, but in my view it was the best individual play we’ve seen from a Rams tight end in at least two full years. Ferguson needs more opportunities.
Tutu Atwell, WR
Similar to Ferguson, who from his limited role in the preseason and first NFL catch seems like a vertical threat, Atwell won’t see many passes thrown his way unless the offensive line can hold up in pass protection. The 49ers (outside of Bryce Huff who had a key sack early) don’t have a formidable pass rush and the Rams OL kept Stafford clean even without veteran RT Rob Havenstein.
The result was an expanded role for Atwell. The speedster was targeted four times and caught two passes for 72 yards. He played a key role in moving into scoring position late, and he and Stafford were slightly off-target on what would have been the game-winning touchdown.
As the offensive line nears full health and better performance, we will probably see more of Atwell and Ferguson—and that is a good thing overall for the Rams.
Poona Ford & Tyler Davis, DT
You’ve seen Ford and Davis on the “winners” list often, and their repeated inclusion is well deserved. They’ve played major roles in slowing down the likes of Saquon Barkley and Jonathan Taylor in recent weeks. On Thursday night they helped hold Christian McCaffrey to a measly 57 yards on 22 carries (2.3 avg).
McCaffrey obviously did a lot of damage through the air to keep the chains moving, but this isn’t the fault of Ford and Davis. We need a nickname for this dynamic duo upfront for the Rams.
Losers
Kyren Williams, RB
I don’t even know what to say about Kyren Williams. He has a clear history of fumbles and there will be time to dust off the stats that demonstrate this should be a key area of focus for him. He had a costly fumble last week and the latest one came in an even more dire situation. Williams also got brought down by a corner on fourth down and showed little fight when he needed to pick up a yard. He had no chance.
The only thing that will fix Williams’ fumbling problem is less playing time. As we will touch on later, his backup Blake Corum has his own challenges. Jarquez Hunter has not seen the field on offense.
How can the Rams extend Williams and invest premium draft capital in Corum and Hunter only to feel like they don’t have a reliable solution in the backfield? It leaves the team in a strange and inexplicable position.
Chris Shula, defensive coordinator
I am unsure who exactly to blame for:
- The defense’s inability to slow McCaffrey as a pass catcher
- For turning Kendrick Bourne into Puka Nacua
- Allowing Mac Jones to run the Jimmy Garoppolo game plan and doing it better than Garoppolo ever could
The corners—mostly Darious Williams and Cobie Durant—were soft in there coverage and Bourne often took advantage. Kamren Curl, Quentin Lake, Nate Landman, and others were seemingly around McCaffrey often at the catch point and failed to bring him down on the first tackle attempt.
Sure, Jones for the most part got the ball out quick. Even when he held the ball the Rams struggled to pressure him, which seemed to improve in the second half.
Ultimately the defenses earned the stops necessary to put the offense in a position to win the game. That may be all that matters. Still, the Rams should have decisively beat the 49ers and Kyle Shanahan outdueled Shula handily in this matchup.
Blake Corum, RB
Corum dropped a pitch from Stafford that hit him square in the hands. This cost the team possession in the red zone. The second-year back also had a couple drops and he clearly has a lack of concentration and a propensity to turn up field before he secures the catch. Corum gained 13 yards on his only carry, but the negative outweighed the bad on Thursday night.
Steve Avila, LG
It was a short week which makes it difficult to discern whether the Rams wanted to give Avila more time before his returned from his injury. However, this marks the second-straight week where he was medically cleared and active on game day but replaced by Justin Dedich in the starting lineup. We should keep an eye on this into Week 6. If Avila doesn’t start next week it’s time to hit the panic button.
