3 Things We Learned From the 49ers 34-31 Win Against the Rams

It never fails that the San Francisco 49ers end up as one of the most entertaining games of the week. That proved true once again in week 16 with their 34-31 win against the Los Angeles Rams in primetime at Levi's Stadium.

It never fails that the San Francisco 49ers end up as one of the most entertaining games of the week. That proved true once again in week 16 with their 34-31 win against the Los Angeles Rams in primetime at Levi's Stadium. The 49ers ended any and all playoff hopes for the Rams, while keeping their hopes of a NFC west title alive.

Once again, the 49ers went down to the wire to achieve victory. The Rams gave them all they had knowing this was it for them. San Francisco showed great resiliency as they have all season long. However, that wasn't the only thing that we learned about them.

Garoppolo can deliver at any moment

It is astonishing how a quarterback can play awful for the majority of a game and can somehow erase that memory with just a couple of drives. That is what Jimmy Garoppolo did on the final two drives of the game after performing well below-average for most of the night. Of course, his poor performance wasn't solely on him. The pass protection was once again shaky at best.

Garoppolo was sacked a resounding six times in the matchup. Something that he hasn't suffered since 2018 against the Detroit Lions. Still, Garoppolo did not make the most of the opportunities of a clean pocket when he had it in limited fashion. You could see him get happy feet at times in the pocket - just waiting on the pending hit from a defensive lineman. There was no doubt he was paranoid for a while in that game and likely what caused him to throw his first interception.

And yet, Garoppolo still was able to rise to the occasion and carry the team to victory in the final drives of the game. Without his resiliency, the 49ers do not get the win. Garoppolo has shown us time and time again that he can deliver at any moment. But delivering on not one, but two third-and-16 plays in the same drive? It is simply incredible and takes a lot of toughness to execute. 

Pass rush still can't finish

Entering week 16, the 49er pass rush had been a shell of itself from it's inflicting nightmare on the opposition. Three sacks is the what they have racked up in the previous three games compared to the 44 in the first 11 games. Now that this game is officially history, we can now say that their sack totals in the last four game are at three sacks. No, that is not an error. The 49ers did not get to Jared Goff a single time in Saturday nights matchup. 

They did, however, manage to make him feel uncomfortable. That proved evident when Goff got rid of the ball on fourth quarter drive that was flagged for intentional grounding. According to Pro Football Focus, the core three of Armstead, Buckner and Bosa notched 18 total pressures on Goff. So there is adequate pressure on their end, but they still can't bring the quarterback down for an official sack. 

There isn't an issue with them not filling the stat sheet. Generating pressures is still very effective as it showed on the grounding call. However, executing sacks is a negative play for an offense. Loss of down and yards is what made covering wide receivers much easier for the secondary. Countless times the Rams were in manageable situations on second and third down. That will need to change next week against the Seahawks if the 49ers want to be crowned division champs.

Jaquiski Tartt's return is crucial

When Jaquiski Tartt exited the game against the Baltimore Ravens, Marcell Harris filled in and did a phenomenal job in his stead. He earned an elite grade from Pro Football Focus and had a game-changing forced fumble. However, ever since that game Harris has been average. That is due to the fact that he looks lost in coverage.

When he is tasked with playing around the box or close to the line of scrimmage, he does an excellent job. He even looks solid as a blitzer. But whenever he is lined up as a single-high safety he gets picked on. He's just average in coverage and that might be a stretch. Harris' down performance lately is what makes Tartt's return crucial. The showdown for the division is on the 49ers' doorstep with Russell Wilson poised to exploit Harris. 

With Tartt back in the lineup, the 49ers will get their fluid coverage back. Meaning Robert Saleh can go back to playing both Tartt and Jimmie Ward as high safeties or box safeties at his leisure. It was that dual threat of both of these players that made this defense difficult to key in on. Offenses just never knew if they were in coverage or blitzing. And with Harris, offenses could care less if he is in coverage rather they hope he is. Keying in on Tartt's injury updates will be huge for the 49ers this week.