Was 49ers Offense Too Much For Rams Defense?
The Los Angeles Rams were defeated by the San Francisco 49ers 30-23 on Sunday evening. Both teams have significantly different expectations heading into the rest of the season, but a surprise victory over the Seattle Seahawks in Week 1 gave the Rams a a little more hope as underdogs against San Francisco.
After the surprising 1-0 start, there were hopes that the Rams would replicate their shocking defensive performance in Week 2 against the 49ers, but San Francisco's highly-touted offense may have been too much for them.
The 49ers couldn't have had a better start to the game, as quarterback Brock Purdy completed all six of his attempts for 49 yards on the first drive. 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey finished the drive off with a 14-yard rushing touchdown.
The Rams were able to hold San Francisco to 17 points at the half due to a variety of third-down stops, including a pass breakup in the red zone from cornerback Cobie Durant and a sack by edge rusher Byron Young. However, cornerback Derion Kendrick had not one, but two red zone penalties in the final seconds of the first half, which allowed Purdy to sneak in and tie the game with no time remaining.
Luckily, the Rams offense was able to keep up with the 49ers throughout the first half, but several long gains from San Francisco and Purdy's buzzer-beating sneak may have lessened the Rams' confidence on both sides of the ball for the rest of the game.
In the second half, the Rams' offense had its moments, but their defense couldn't keep up, especially after a Stafford interception that popped up and out of Williams' hands.
49ers receiver Brandon Aiyuk's wide-open 18-yard grab over the middle later set San Francisco up for a 57-yard field goal by Jake Moody.
The Rams punted the ball away three plays later, as 49ers All-Pro linebacker Fred Warner logged a third-down sack.
San Francisco took advantage, as Jennings leaped over Durant for a 31-yard reception. Samuel did the rest by juking around multiple defenders for an 11-yard score.
A few drives, another Stafford interception and two more Maher field goals (including the latter on the final play of the game) led to a 30-23 loss.
The Rams offense used a more methodical approach and took their time driving down the field from the opening kickoff to the final whistle. While the 49ers scored 30 points, the Rams had 24 more offensive plays, seven more first downs and nearly seven more minutes of possession, but they only had 21 more total yards.
As previously stated, the Rams had a few defensive stops, but they were getting exposed at all levels of the field far too often. The 49ers' long gains were truly what killed the Rams in the end.
