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The Los Angeles Rams avenged their Week 5 loss to the San Francisco 49ers in a big way in Week 10. After losing to the 49ers in overtime, the Rams controlled this meeting from start to finish, winning 42-26. The 16-point win against the 49ers ties their largest margin of victory in this rivalry during the Sean McVay era. It’s the type of statement win and confidence boost that the Rams needed as they head into the next two months of their schedule. Here are this week’s 10 takeaways.
When the Rams played the 49ers back in Week 5, it was as if they weren’t ready to play on Thursday Night Football. That was not the case on Sunday. The Rams came out playing with energy and ready to take care of business. They played with the Week 5 loss fresh in their memory. On offense, the Rams scored on their first three drives. Defensively, the Rams got a three-and-out and then Nate Landman recorded yet another forced fumble.
Before the 49ers could blink, the Rams were leading 21-0. This was a game in which the Rams knew they were better than the team on the other side, were confident in their game plan, and executed it to perfection. The Rams knew how important this game was and they were locked in.
The MVP conversation should be a two quarterback race between Matthew Stafford and Drake Maye. After beating a 49ers team that entered the week 6-3 on the road, Stafford’s case only got better. The Rams quarterback threw for four touchdowns and zero interceptions. He became the only quarterback in NFL history to throw four or more touchdown passes and zero interceptions in three straight games. Stafford threw three or more touch passes for the 62nd time in his career. That tied Dan Marino for the sixth-most all-time.
On the season, Stafford has 25 touchdowns and two interceptions. The only quarterback to do that through their team’s first nine games was Patrick Mahomes in 2020. Stafford is playing some of the best football of his career and it seemingly only gets better every week. Stafford has gone six straight games without an interception which is the longest streak of his career. It’s also not as if Stafford is playing conservatively. The Rams quarterback is making the special throws while not turning the ball over.
In the early parts of the season, the Rams couldn’t quite figure out how to utilize both Kyren Williams and Blake Corum. The duo combined for 27 carries for 129 yards in this game. That comes one week after they combined for 38 carries for 172 yards. It’s also the third consecutive game both players have 10 or more carries. While Williams is still the primary ball carrier, it’s been closer to 50-50 in two of the last three weeks. The Rams simply...
