Turf Show Times
It was clear from the first moment the Los Angeles Rams took the field that they were out for revenge against the San Francisco 49ers. San Francisco handed LA a deflated loss back in Week 5 at SoFi Stadium, and in the rematch LA took an early lead and never really looked back. The Rams finished on top 42-26.
The offense led the way on Sunday. Matthew Stafford tossed four touchdowns and Kyren Williams added two scores of his own on the ground. Mac Jones and Christian McCaffrey were effective but the 49ers never truly threatened LA’s lead.
Who stood out on an individual level? Let’s look at the “Winners & Losers”:
Was it a perfect day from Stafford? No. The offense cooled off late into the first half partly attributable to missed throws and Stafford nearly threw an interception along the sideline while the score was still close.
Still, the good greatly outweighed the bad. This was a complete performance from Stafford. If you take his efforts in two games against the 49ers in total, you have to come away impressed. It’s clear the Rams have a major quarterback advantage over San Francisco, even if Mac Jones is playing better than anyone expected.
Stafford completed 24 of 36 passes (67%) for 280 yards and four touchdowns all to different receivers. He was sacked only once.
The offensive line was in poor shape earlier this season. Kevin Dotson and Rob Havenstein played through ankle injuries and their performance suffered. Steve Avila missed extended time as well.
This group now looks healthy and they are a force to be reckoned with. Dotson was clearing lanes in the running game and making an impact downfield. Alaric Jackson and Avila were both solid on the left side.
Kyren Williams rushed 14 times for 73 yards (5.2 avg) and two scores. Blake Corum added 13 carries for 56 yards (4.3 avg). That is an efficient day for the backs, but it doesn’t happen without a strong day from the guys up front.
Stafford was also kept relatively clean, and the offensive line allowed him time to pick apart the 49ers defense.
The last two weeks have been very positive for Forbes. The former first round pick was seemingly benched in favor of Darious Williams before the bye week. Williams missed the Week 9 game and Forbes made the most of the opportunity.
His best play of the day was deflecting a pass from Jones back to himself for an interception and a fourth down stop. This effectively ended San Francisco’s comeback effort.
This wasn’t the most productive outing we’ve seen from a talented defensive line in terms of pass rush; however, when the Rams did seem to get pressure it looked like it came from either Tyler Davis or Braden Fiske via a collapsing pocket. One such pressure forced a bad throw by Jones...
