The San Francisco 49ers convincingly found their identity against their division rivals Los Angeles Rams in an awe-inspiring victory at Sofi Stadium, 31-14, and it was a total team effort.
San Francisco 49ers Identity
After a disappointing loss to Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Cheifs, the San Francisco 49ers bounced back in a big way in the home of the defending Super Bowl champions. They played their best game of the season and found their identity of having a dominant defensive line and an explosive offense led the way to victory.
The San Francisco 49ers were solid and stout in all three phases of the game against the Rams, offense, defense, and special teams, but the defensive line, the running game, and newly acquired running back Christian McCaffrey ignited the team dominating performance against the Rams.
McCaffrey’s Historic Day
In his second game with the San Francisco 49ers, Christian McCaffrey put on a historical performance for the ages. He did it all for the 49ers’ offense. He had a rushing touchdown, receiving touchdown, and a touchdown pass to Brandon Aiyuk that flipped the game the 49ers’ way.
His performance against the Rams was so good; McCaffrey is the only player in the Super Bowl Era to have a rushing touchdown, a receiving touchdown, a passing touchdown, and more than 30 yards rushing, receiving, and passing in the same game.
To put in perspective McCaffrey’s historical game on Sunday in Los Angeles. The last player to have a rushing, receiving, and passing touchdown in the same game was back in 2005 when Hall of Fame running back LaDainian Tomlinson of the then-San Diego Chargers had the same performance for the ages. He is up there with legendary running backs Tomlinson and Walter Payton, aka Sweetness, as the only running backs in the game to have that stat line in a single game.
It’s a small sample size, two games, but early returns on San Francisco trading for McCaffrey was totally successful. McCaffrey adds a different element to the 49ers offense. They needed more stability in the running back position. If McCaffrey can stay healthy, and the other skill position players like Deebo Samuel, Jaun Jennings, and Kyle Juszczyk are healthy, the San Francisco 49ers’ offense will be one of the most dynamic and explosive offenses in the NFL.
Health Is Wealth
After a poor performance giving up more than forty points, 44 points total, Demeco Ryans and the San Francisco 49ers defense bounced back in a big way against the Rams. They held the defending Super Bowl champions and arch-division rivals to only 14 points at home. It was night and day from the Kansas City loss to Los Angeles win. But, as always with the 49ers’ defense, it starts and ends with the defensive line.
Even with the absence of Arik Armstead and Javon Kinlaw, the 49ers’ defense was able to pressure Stafford and make him uncomfortable all game. San Francisco made a significant statement heading into the bye week. They are getting healthy at the right time. If the 49ers can leave the bye week healthier than in week 8, adding Deebo, Armstead, Kinlaw, Juszczyk, and Jennings back on the field, the 49ers will be even more diverse and dynamic than they have been all year.
Garropolo’s Macro View
It is no secret that Jimmy Garoppolo gets a lot of flack and criticism for not being able to read the field, throwing interceptions, and not being able to throw deep and outside the numbers. With all that being said, Garoppolo has been as good as advertised this season.
He was super efficient against the Rams. He completed 21 passes in 25 attempts for 235 yards, a 9.4 yards per average, two passing touchdowns, and a quarterback rating of 132.5 against a top defense in the NFL. If we step back from this game and look at the macro view of Garoppolo’s season thus far, he has shown signs of being a top tier quarterback in the NFL.
In the last five-game stretch, after the horrific 11-10 loss in Denver, Garoppolo has been fantastic. He has nine touchdowns, three interceptions, one interception was a glorified hail marry that was meaningless, a 68 percent completion percentage, and four of five games with a quarterback rating of 99 or greater. Since Trey Lance went down with a season-ending knee injury in week two, Garoppolo has done everything the San Francisco 49ers could ask to get into the playoffs.
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