INGLEWOOD (News4usonline) – The Los Angeles Rams came off their bye week looking for a win. They were not able to achieve that goal. That’s because the San Francisco 49ers outscored the Rams 21-0 in the second half of their NFC West Division game at SoFi Stadium to win going away with a 31-14 victory.
“First of all, congrats to the 49ers. We came out, and we were ready to go,” Rams head coach Sean McVay said. “I thought we did enough good things in the first half we just didn’t sustain it. They made their plays. We had our opportunities to be able to make plays. We didn’t get that done. We got clearly outplayed in the second half and there’s really no way around it.”
One of the reasons why the Rams failed to beat the 49ers was the fact that they were not able to sustain drives. The offense totaled 16 first downs and had just 56 yards rushing the football. In building a 14-10 halftime lead, the Rams produced 12 first downs. They produced only four first downs in the second half.
Getting quality output from the run game is essential, Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford said in his postgame press conference.
“I think the more balance you can be, the tougher it is to defend, I would say,” Stafford said. “I think we’ve done it at times running the ball, we’ve done at times throwing the ball. We’ve got to be able to do it a little bit more consistently (in) both those aspects of the game.”
Stafford was sharp in the first and second quarters, completing 17 of 21 passes for 150 yards. Stafford finished the game with passing 187 yards, 32 of those yards coming in the second half. Afterward, Stafford addressed the team’s offensive struggles.
“I think we can be better,” Stafford said. “I can be better, obviously. Some chances to keep drives alive on third down, (we) didn’t do a good enough job on some of those. It was a nice first half, played well, and just didn’t do enough in the second half to give ourselves a chance.”
Getting to the quarterback was another area of concern for the Rams coming into this game. During their first encounter of the season, the Rams recorded zero sacks in what eventually would be a 24-9 road loss. In this game, the Rams did get to San Francisco quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo three times for sacks.
However, the 49ers quarterback would up with an efficient afternoon, making good on 21 of his 25 passes for 235 yards and two touchdowns. The real problem for the Rams defense was not Garoppolo. It was running back Christian McCaffrey, who was traded from the Carolina Panthers a couple of weeks ago.
The 49ers didn’t waste time using the versatile talents of McCaffrey. McCaffrey did it all for the 49ers. He ran the football. He caught passes. He even threw a pass that went for a score.
“I think everyone knows how good of a player he is, but I just like how consistent he is and under control of what he does,” San Francisco had coach Kyle Shanahan said about McCaffrey. “He’s a very smart player and even though he makes a lot of plays and stuff, but the consistency with how he plays his game… I feel like it was a great guy to add for us.”
After seven games, the Rams stand with a 3-4 record. It’s a long way from McVay and the Rams throwing in the towel on the season. The team still has 10 games remaining to play in the regular season. And at any time, the Super Bowl champs can go on a mid and late season run to finish strong.
“This is one of those deals where you have to be able to look at yourself in the mirror, get up and respond the right way,” McVay said in continuation of his postgame conference opening remarks. “We said that a handful of times this year, but I’m not afraid to continue to get up here, put everything that we have and that we have as players, as coaches out there to try to be able to get the result that we want.
“It’s easy for people to try to do that and then not have that same mindset and mentality after you get a setback or a disappointing loss like this, but I trust that we’re made of the right stuff.”
The one constant that could help immensely in that regard is running the football effectively. For an example, Stafford’s 1-yard touchdown run in the second quarter was more of happenstance than a result of a called run as the Rams’ signal-caller got flushed out of the pocket at the goal line as he was looking to pass, and wound up taking on three defenders and powered his way into the endzone.
It was a bold play and a daring finish for Stafford. It just might be enough to ignite the run game for the Rams.
Dennis has covered and written about politics, crime, social justice, sports, and entertainment. Dennis currently covers the NFL, MLB, NBA, NCAA, and Olympic sports. Dennis is the editor of News4usonline.com and serves as the publisher of the Compton Bulletin newspaper. He earned a journalism degree from Howard University.