49ers Suffer Defeat to the Rams, but are Winners With the Lack of Injuries

It is the first time since 2018 that the 49ers have suffered a defeat to the Rams in the regular season, but they are still winners with injuries being minimal.

Well that was a fairly boring game.

The San Francisco 49ers end the regular season with a 21-20 loss to the Los Angeles Rams. It is the first time since 2018 that the 49ers have suffered a defeat to the Rams in the regular season. But I think this loss will carry an asterisk on it since it meant nothing at all. This game was always going to be a bland watch. Both teams had nothing to play for and held out most of their starters before or early into the game.

It was basically a preseason matchup between the 49ers and Rams. Neither side was going to risk getting a key player injured and making their playoff battles tougher. Plus, these two teams could potentially meet again in the divisional playoff round should the Rams advance that far. The game plan from both sides was certainly going to be vanilla and tame. Look no further than when Carson Wentz ran the ball 15 times. That's indicative of how much of a throwaway this game was.

All that mattered for this game was getting out unscathed with zero key players injured. The 49ers did that with one exception. Defensive end Clelin Ferrell, who starts on early downs, exited the game early on a cart with a knee injury. He did not return to the game, so his status going forward is up in the air. Hopefully it is nothing serious that keeps him out of the divisional playoff round. Ferrell isn't necessarily an impact player, but he has been surprisingly solid for the 49ers this season.

All in all, this game went pretty well for the 49ers. Injuries were minimal and they were able to get backup/rotational players extra run to improve their readiness for the playoffs should they be needed. It was also a bit fun to see Sam Darnold and how he would look. He had a few impressive throws in the first half, but completely flamed out in the second half. Much of that had to do with a few drops from his receivers. Either way it was a typical Darnold outing.

The 49ers will begin to flip the switch into playoff mode now. For now, it is all about focusing on the injuries with crucial rest and recovery to push for the Super Bowl.