Niners Nation
The San Francisco 49ers have seemingly had the Los Angeles Rams’ number during the Kyle Shanahan-Sean McVay era. From 2019-2023, the 49ers won nine of 10 games in the series, with the lone loss being the killer NFC Championship Game that sent the Rams to the Super Bowl.
But, there was a slippage last year as the 49ers had a down year, leading the Rams to sweep the season series and improve their winning streak to three over San Francisco.
That led us to last Thursday’s thriller, with both teams standing at 3-1 with a chance to take control of the NFC West. All factors were pointing against the 49ers. They were without Brock Purdy, Ricky Pearsall, and Jauan Jennings in addition to already-injured George Kittle, Ben Bartch, Nick Bosa, Brandon Aiyuk, Malik Mustapha, and more.
That’s why it was no surprise they were 7.5-point favorites on the road (though is it really a road game at Levi’s South?). And yet, the Mac Jones-led 49ers came out screaming, taking two 10+ play drives and getting an early stop to lead 14-0 midway through the second quarter. That lead became 17-7 at halftime, though the Rams fired back with back-to-back touchdown drives in the second half after the 49ers got a field goal on their first offensive possession.
Suddenly, we were in a back-and-forth game, with things tied up at 20 apiece. The 49ers had a go-ahead 59-yard field goal from Eddy Piniero with less than four minutes left, but things are never over with Matthew Stafford at the helm for Los Angeles.
The Rams quarterback had completions of 11 and 18 yards, and a Kyren Williams 20-yard run immediately got Los Angeles in the red zone. But, two plays later, a clutch forced fumble from rookie Alfred Collins at the two-yard line got the 49ers a miraculous stop.
Yes, the 49ers punted and the Rams came back with a field goal drive to send the game to overtime, but San Francisco persevered with a field goal of its own after starting with the ball in the extra frame. Just as he did at the end of regulation, Stafford made a big play, finding TuTu Atwell for an impressive 38-yard pass to get Los Angeles to the red zone yet again.
Of course, we know the story from there, with the 49ers stuffing the Rams on 4th & 1 to get a huge road victory and improve to 4-1 in an improbable way.
While it was only the fifth game of the season and not necessarily a make-or-break game, it was one of the more impressive 49ers victories in recent memory, and one that head coach Kyle Shanahan won’t forget for a while.
“There have been a lot of special ones,” Shanahan said the day after the game. “It is just the fifth game of the season, so as far as ramifications and stuff, you never know how that plays out. But, it was unusually exhausting, I think, just the competitive...
