Turf Show Times
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.
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.
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...
