Niners Nation
Have a fun, entertaining game where you win, and follow that up with a loss. That’s been the cycle for the San Francisco 49ers since late September. A myriad of injuries on both sides of the ball have led to Kyle Shanahan and Robert Saleh being over-reliant on players who have no business playing meaningful snaps against a playoff team like the Los Angeles Rams.
The least surprising outcome was the 49ers allowing 42 points in Week 10. The offense scoring 26 points will become the norm, but early mistakes put them behind the 8-ball, and that cushion took the pressure off the Rams before they were ever truly threatened, despite a one-score game for a possession or two in the second half.
There was a lot to unpack from Sunday, so let’s get into the good, bad, and ugly from Week 10.
We’ve heard a lot about this Rams defense, which came into Week 10 fifth in schedule-adjust efficiency. We know about Jared Verse and the vaunted pass rush, but there was one team that stopped the 49ers offense on Sunday, and it wasn’t the Rams.
Mac Jones was pressured on 23.1 percent of his dropbacks, which was the lowest in the NFL in Week 10. Jones also had the eighth-longest time to throw, at three seconds flat. And that’s saying something, considering names above him like Josh Allen, Caleb Williams, and Jaxson Dart generally scramble and hold onto the ball longer.
The offensive line more than held up, despite going back and forth between Spencer Burford and Ben Bartch. Burford out-snapped Bartch 35 to 28.
Jones wasn’t sacked on his 39 attempts, throwing for 319 yards, completing 84 percent of his passes, all while operating and executing Shanahan’s offense about as well as one would expect a backup to do.
The Rams are a playoff contender. The Rams do not have a playoff defense. Read the comments and quotes on that tweet if you can stomach it. Rams fans got a hold of that, ignoring a lot of what took place during the game.
Jones had the second-highest success rate in a game in his career against the Rams on Sunday at 64.1 percent. The third-highest in his career? Week 5.
No, this did not happen because the Rams were in a “prevent” defense. Jones completed 11 of his 12 passes in under 2.5 seconds for 119 yards. He completed all ten of his throws when under center for 93 yards and a touchdown.
A fumble in Rams territory on the second drive. A 4th & 1 stop from the Rams’ 11 on the third drive. The 49ers ran out of time, or else they would have scored before halftime, as they were at midfield. The other drives were an interception, a three-and-out, a punt, and four touchdowns. But yeah, defense!
George Kittle caught all nine of his targets for 84 yards and a touchdown, including an acrobatic reception on fourth down. You can argue...
