49ers – Rams Live Blog

This is the live blog for the 49ers week 7 matchup with the Los Angeles Rams from SoFi Stadium in Inglewood. I will provide updates and analysis from the press box throughout the game.

12:00 49ers inactives today: Kyle Juszczyk, Arik Armstead, Deebo Samuel, Dre Greenlaw, Jauan Jennings, Jason Verrett, Kemoko Turay

12:40 The 49ers have four tight ends active today with Tyler Kroft returning to the lineup and only five wide receivers. This may be the sign of a return to a run heavy game plan from Kyle Shanahan. 

12:52 Ross Dwelley is lining up at fullback in place of Kyle Juszczyk who is inactive.

No changes on defense from last week. Deommodore Lenoir and Charvarius Ward are lined up on the outside and Jimmie Ward is in the slot. 

1:08 This game is very interesting. How does Kyle Shanahan get at least 20 points out of an offense missing Deebo Samuel, Kyle Juszczyk and Jauan Jennings today? Think it will take at least that to get the win today.

1:24 49ers have won the toss and deferred. They will start on defense.

1:28 Terrific start for the 49ers defense as they force a quick three and out. 

Samson Ebukam with a tackle for loss on first down, followed by an incompletion on a screen, then another screen is stopped for a loss of one by Oren Burks.

1:34 The 49ers open up with Jeff Wilson Jr. and Christian McCaffrey in the backfield together. They pick up a couple of first downs before the drive stalls. 

Garoppolo had Ray-Ray McCloud open on a deep post, but the pass was slightly underthrown which allowed the Rams defender to close and knock the ball away. Jalen Ramsey batted away the third down pass intended for George Kittle.

1:41 Rams have driven from their own 12 to the 49ers 37. The only big play was a 20-yard completion from Stafford to Kupp on the first play. The rest has come on short runs and underneath throws. 

Charvarius Ward went down and has been replaced by Ambry Thomas.

1:51 Matthew Stafford finishes the drive with a touchdown on a boot to his right.  

The 49ers defense put up a terrific fight, forcing the Rams to run eight plays inside the ten. Holding penalties by Ambry Thomas and Ward provided the additional chances.

49ers 0 Rams 7

1:56 Trent Williams opens the 49ers second possession by jumping offsides. Typical mistake for this offense. 

On the final play of the first quarter George Kittle takes a screen from Jimmy Garoppolo for a gain of nine.

2:02 Christian McCaffrey responds with a 34-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Aiyuk.

That drive was all McCaffrey and Kittle. Two plays before the touchdown, Jimmy Garoppolo hit George Kittle down the left seam for a gain of 23. 

Now the defense needs to get a stop.

2:13 Just like a week ago, they can’t do it.

Los Angeles goes 75 yards in nine plays, the touchdown coming when Matthew Stafford hit Cooper Kupp from 16 yards out. 

Kupp beat the coverage of linebacker Oren Burks on the play.

Jimmie Ward was replaced in the slot by Deommodore Lenoir two plays earlier.

The Rams have been methodical on both of their scoring drives with a number of screens and underneath throws.

2:36 The 49ers offense goes 52-yards on 11 plays, settling for 29-yard field goal from Robbie Gould.

A personal foul penalty on Taylor Rapp helped get the ball across midfield, but the Rams pass rush did a good job of once again getting to Jimmy Garoppolo. Leonard Floyd has been in the backfield repeatedly.

49ers 10 Rams 14

2:40 The Rams run into the middle of the line a couple times to close out the half. 

2:58 Christian McCaffrey rips off a gain of 25 on a run around the left side to open the second half. From there the offense can’t do anything and waste a timeout in the process because they couldn’t get the proper personnel on the field. 

Garoppolo is almost picked off by Jalen Ramsey on second down, then sacked by Greg Gaines on third down. 

Gaines dominated in the NFC Championship game and is playing well again today.

3:09 The 49ers defense gets a stop. They finally got some pressure on Matthew Stafford leading to an incompletion. 

Los Angeles is picking up good yardage with runs into the middle on first down, making it easier to dink and dunk their way down the field. 

They got greedy on first down though and Stafford overthrew Kupp. A short run on second down helped set up the pressure. 

3:21 Jimmy Garoppolo with a nice throw and Christian McCaffrey with a terrific catch give the 49ers their first lead of the game.

Garoppolo’s first read wasn’t open and the offensive line gave him time to find McCaffrey running up the left side.

That was a nice drive from Kyle Shanahan as well. Nearly every play showed the same formation and motion pre-snap which helped keep the Rams defense off balance. 

49ers 17 Rams 14

3:26 A quick three and out for the defense. 

They key on the last two possessions has been success on first down which has helped the pass rush get going. A three-yard run by Ronnie Rivers was followed by an incomplete pass to Tyler Higbee with tight coverage by Oren Burks. 

On third and seven Fred Warner gets to Stafford and brings him down for the 49ers first sack of the game.  

3:31 The third quarter comes to a close with a Garoppolo screen pass to Christian McCaffrey for a gain of seven yards up the right sideline. McCaffrey is hit out of bounds, giving the 49ers a free 15-yards. 

49ers will start the fourth quarter at the Rams 36.

49ers 17 Rams 14

3:36 McCaffrey with a 24 yard burst through the middle of the line gets the ball down to the one. He punches it in from there on the next play.

McCaffrey was worth every one of those draft picks the 49ers gave up to acquire him.

49ers 24 Rams 14

3:46 The 49ers defense gives up a first down, but Allen Robinson gets called for taunting to push the Rams back. 

On third down, Tyler Higbee had a shot at a big gain but couldn’t hold on to the ball. 

That was an interesting play. The 49ers had Charvarius Ward follow the receiver into the slot. They had that side covered well, but the tight end broke free running from the other side.

3:53 Jimmy Garoppolo puts this game away. First, he hits Ross Dwelley deep down the left sideline for a gain of 56. Next, he rolls to his left after a play fake and gets the ball to George Kittle in the back left of the endzone for a seven-yard touchdown.

49ers 31 Rams 14

4:08 49ers win 31-14. Headed down to the locker room. Will be back soon with the game story.

This article has 59 Comments

  1. Verrett was our one hope..so sad to see he is not ready. 3-5 on the season. It was all easy top predict last spring.

  2. Just listened to Dontae Whitner rip the defense for rookie mistakes made by veterans. For example, he stated that defending the bunch WR concept is a day one install for the defense, yet the veteran backs failed to communicate and allowed a 20 yard run and catch by the Chiefs. I’ve always liked Whitner because he doesn’t hold back.

  3. Why did they even open Verrett’s practice window? He was clearly not ready. Did they have to open it that early? I know once it was opened they had 3 weeks to activate or put him back on the injured list. I swear this is the worst organization in sports for managing injuries.

    1. It’s not going to matter. He likely won’t be close to 100% and in game shape until the end of the year at the earliest, if his past history after coming back from a major injury is any indication.

      He needs time on the practice field until he’s ready. Plus they’re playing on artificial turf and they have a bye week coming up. He might see some limited action after the bye until he’s fully capable of holding his own during a game.

  4. Damn! This offense is littered will Pro Bowlers when healthy! I mean, we have enough to fill half of the of a team in the offense. Lol

  5. The defense is the same as the last two weeks. Absolutely incapable of even slowing the other team down. This is looking like another shootout, and we know how those endup for the Niners. The only hope is that Kyle isn’t stupid enough to stop running again. The defense needs to not be on the field and we need a long drive like the Rams had.

  6. I will bet that if you look at the last two weeks and the start of this game, the defense is close to the bottom during that time period. From best to near last.

  7. I say go for the touchdown. Field goals are no good in this game. Gotta match the Rams with our, at least to this point, lousy defense. Just sayin…..

  8. I feel bad for Jeff Wilson Jr. Having an excellent season, and now can’t get a carry as Kyle can only use one RB at a time and is now enamored with his shiny new toy McCaffrey. They need to run more, 15 passes and only 8 runs. The perfect recipe to lose again.

  9. Saleh was the best at half time adjustments. So far this season, Ryans is far inferior, with literally no recognizable changes. It’s the same defense. Can’t get off the field. Wide open receivers. Shabby tackling. No pass rush. Other than that, their not bad. (ok, kudo’s to a good, but still rare stop there on 3rd down) Lets get a TD, not a FG

  10. Will wonders never cease? Finally 3rd down defense. Now the Rams have only made 75% of their 3rd downs and Stafford has a similar completion percentage. Ryans seems absolutely in over his head right now. Even with all those starters missing the defense shouldn’t be this bad.

  11. You got to give it to our fans even on the road game. That sounded like a home gamr there on the 3rd down stop!

    1. Nobody is concerned about his playing abilities. We all know he could put up a madden numbers. It is health that scares people.

    2. He is amazing. I had no idea he was so incredibably versatile. But he was lucky that the 2 fumbles were not lost.

  12. Great win! The Rams are the Niners elixir of rejuvenation, playing the Rams makes everything looks good again.

    Nice to finally see Demeco Ryans do something in the second half. I don’t expect this injured defense to pitch shutouts, but they had been miserable for 2 1/2 games.

    Excellent game from McCaffrey, would still like to see more of a RB rotation to help keep him fresh and healthy.

    Clearly one of Jimmy’s top 3 games of his career. Although it was still a near thing, had a couple of balls that could have easily been intercepted. Jimmy is always on the razor’s edge between success and failure.

    Also really good to see the offense function after the first quarter, and without Deebo. Lots of lessons to be learned here about the usage of personnel that I hope Kyle learns. Not everything has to go through Deebo, and let the guys who have skills make plays, that’s Kittle, Aiyuk, McCaffrey, Wilson, and Dwelley. Stay away from the guys like Woerner and Ray-Ray.

  13. Has anyone seen Mr. 3-5 before the bye Jaxon?
    He usually writes long narratives after 49ers games (when they lose). Well, I guess that this is a good time to be Anonymous 😉.

  14. Seattle leads the league. We need to get back in first! I love CMC and Jack si right: He is worth all the picks. It is Tret we overpaid for. Dwelley can catch but is not a blocker. Get him into the offense please!

  15. 1. I feel a lot better. Both Offense and Defense showed up.
    2. Ryans make the necessary adjustments at the half and shut them down. Warner had his best game in weeks.
    3. Great solid mistake free game from Jimmy. He is the master of the 12 play 80 yard drive that burns 8 minutes off the clock. Now if only he could do the same with the game/season on the line with 1 minute left.
    4. More long passes to Dwelley and Kroft and none to Woerner. Also, why are we still throwing deep to McLoed? He has had 2 drops in 3 games. Let’s give Gray a shot.
    5. CMC is a weapon . He is a weapon when he doesn’t have the ball. On the TD to Kittle, Rapp took steps toward CMC in the flat which gave Kittle room to get open in the back of the endzone.
    6. Why are we running CMC up the gut at the end of the game? Why not Price or Wilson? Also, It would be a huge mistake to trade Wilson. He is both a speed back and a power back. With our RB injury history he is way too valuable to trade.
    7. This version of the Niners is not only a playoff team but the best team in the NFC.
    8. Glad we have a bye.

    1. Agreed on CMC running up the gut at the end of the game. Given the injuries on this team why is KS always tempting fate?

  16. Finally saw something in Shanahan I didn’t think we’d ever see.

    3 and about 3 near the goal line and Shanny chose to take a shot for the win and they come away with a TD to basically put it away.

    The old Shanny calls a conservative run play, gets stuffed and is content to kick a FG and play it out from there.

    Just felt that was a big confidence boost for the offense. Slam the door when you have a shot.

    Hope to see more of this.

  17. Nice to see Ryans make adjustments in the 2nd half. First time in a long time that I’ve seen both sides of the ball play well in the 2nd half.

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