49ers 24, Rams 16: Grades
SANTA CLARA -- The 49ers saved their season Sunday night with a 24-16 win over the Los Angeles Rams. Had the Niners lost, things would have gotten bleak. Instead, the 49ers are 3-3 with a winnable game next week against the New England Patriots. Plus, the 49ers just beat a division opponent that was 4-1 coming into this game. Meaning the 49ers got their confidence back.
Here are their grades.
GAROPPOLO: B
He proved he’s not the awful quarterback we saw Week 1 against the Cardinals and Week 5 against the Dolphins. In those games, head coach Kyle Shanahan did Garoppolo zero favors. In this game, Shanahan had a much better game plan, so Garoppolo played well. Granted, lots of his passes were shovel passes and screens, and 223 of Garoppolo’s 268 yards came after the catch, and he never had to make a difficult pass. But give him credit for managing the game, committing no turnovers, avoiding sacks and scrambling for a crucial six yards on the 49ers second-to-last drive of the game to set up a 49-yard field goal. Other quarterbacks might have unravelled and panicked, but Garoppolo didn’t. This game should boost his confidence and the team’s confidence in him, but I can’t help but notice how hard Shanahan had to work to make his $27-million-per-season quarterback comfortable. Eventually, Garoppolo will have to do more to justify his contract and lead the 49ers to a Super Bowl victory. But against the Rams, he did enough to win, and that’s all that matters. Good for him. His career in Santa Clara was hanging in the balance and he saved it.
RUNNING BACKS: B-PLUS
The Rams sold out to stop the run and the 49ers running backs still ran incredibly hard and carried the offense for most of the game. Raheem Mostert ran 16 times in the first half, but left in the second half with an ankle injury. Mostert is a fantastic running back, but he never has been a featured back in his life and hasn’t proven he can carry a starter’s workload. His backup, Jerick McKinnon, runs hard but has no juice or explosion. So the 49ers replaced him with rookie JaMycal Hasty, who has tons of juice and explosion. Mostert and Hasty should be the 49ers’ 1-2 punch from now on.
WIDE RECEIVERS: B-PLUS
Deebo Samuel was a crucial member of the run game, and Brandon Aiyuk caught a touchdown pass in the red zone. Kendrick Bourne made a couple nice catches but also dropped a couple well-thrown passes.
TIGHT ENDS: A-MINUS
George Kittle caught 7 passes for 109 yards and a touchdown -- a typical game for him. He also dropped a pass in the fourth quarter, something I never expect my dawg to do. But he’s still my dawg.
OFFENSIVE LINEMEN: A
The real stars of the game. They made Aaron Donald, the best defensive player in the league, a complete non-factor -- he had just two tackles and zero sacks. The two offensive tackles -- Trent Williams and Mike McGlinchey -- both were outstanding for the first time this season, and the 49ers gave up zero sacks.
DEFENSIVE LINEMEN: C
They gave up a whopping 5.9 yards per carry and never sacked Goff. Rookie Javon Kinlaw jumped offside twice. Arik Armstead may or may not have played -- I didn’t notice him.
LINEBACKERS: B
Struggled to defend the run, but did an excellent job defending the pass for the most part. It’s interesting how much better the 49ers defense plays when Kwon Alexander isn’t on the field running around like a chicken with his head cut off.
DEFENSIVE BACKS: A
The stars of the game for the defense. They limited Goff to just 19 completions on 38 pass attempts, and his quarterback rating was a mere 72. The 49ers defensive backs accomplished this without the benefit of a pass rush. Jason Verrett played like a shutdown cornerback -- he’s the best corner on the team, even better than Richard Sherman. And Emmanuel Moseley played well until he gave up a long touchdown catch to Josh Reynolds in the fourth quarter.
SPECIAL TEAMS: A
Robbie Gould made a 49-yard field goal and all three extra-point attempts and never attempted a drop-kick onside kick, thank goodness.
COACHES: A
Kyle Shanahan drew up a perfect game plan for an offense with a quarterback who’s injured and low on confidence. Shanahan had a zillion different run plays and screens, so the 49ers took an early lead before Garoppolo had to throw a pass more than four yards past the line of scrimmage. I doubt he enjoys working around his quarterback and calling so many handoffs and extended handoffs, but that’s what he has to do on this team. Had he used this game plan against the Cardinals, Eagles and Dolphins, the 49ers would be undefeated. And had he used this game plan in the second half of the Super Bowl, the 49ers would be champions. Maybe Shanahan is learning. But as well as he coached, defensive coordinator Robert Saleh was even better. The defense has been the best part of the 49ers all season despite missing roughly half of its starters. It’s incredible how good Saleh can be when he simply has two competent cornerbacks. He deserves respect.
GRANT COHN: A-PLUS
I pressed all the right psychological buttons during the week to motivate the 49ers to play better. I called out Mike McGlinchey and Trent Williams. I got Jed York to stay and watch the entire game. Plus I gave Shanahan his game plan. I told him all week to run the ball and call easy passes for Garoppolo. Shanahan, being the genius that he is, clearly read all my articles and watched all my YouTube videos and followed my expert advice. So he owes me a nickel. But I’d accept a spot on the coaching staff as quality control or coordinator of common sense. For the time being, I humbly accept the game ball for the 49ers victory. I earned it.
