Rams win thriller against 49ers

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – It’s not about how you start. It’s how you finish. The Los Angeles Rams started atrociously slow against the San Francisco 49ers but ended the game in a flourish to come from behind to beat their NFC West Division rivals, 27-24. 

To pick up their first win of the season, the Rams outscored the 49ers 13-3 in the fourth quarter to climb out of an early game deficit. 

“Holy! What a job by our group just continuing to battle [and] continuing to fight,” Rams head coach Sean McVay said after the game. “There’s a lot of guts [and] there’s a lot of resilience in this group and it’s just one game. I’m really proud of them. I’m really proud of them for a lot of the things that went into it, guys that had to step up. I thought special teams was a huge edge for us today.”

By the time the first quarter had ended play between the Rams and 49ers, Los Angeles trailed San Francisco by two touchdowns. The 49ers put up a quick 14 points in the period while the Rams bumbled and stumbled their way through the quarter. 

How bad was it for the Rams in that first quarter? Starting quarterback Matthew Stafford, who finished the game with 221 passing yards and a touchdown, had zero yards through the air. 

Before they could even blink, the Rams were down 14-0 at the end of the first quarter. But they didn’t quit. Instead, the Rams responded with a stunning come-from-behind victory at SoFi Stadium.  

“We’re a team,” Stafford said. “We’re a team [and] they’re a team. We went up there and played as best we could. We got the win. I’m not into improbable [or] probable. The NFL is an improbable business, I’ll tell you that much. You never know what’s going to happen week in and week out. You have to go out there and earn it and prove it and we did that today.”

This win by the Rams was truly a team effort. The defensive and offensive units and special teams handled their respective parts. Running back Kyren Williams found his groove again and rushed for 89 yards and produced three touchdowns in total against the 49ers. 

On defense, edge rusher Byron Young turned out to be a nightmare for San Francisco quarterback Brock Purdy all afternoon. Safety Quentin Lake remains a mainstay, recording his third straight game with double-digits in tackles. 

Then there is the special teams unit. A game-altering fake punt carried out by Ronnie Rivers, a devastating punt return by Xavier Smith, and the game-winning walk-off field goal by Josh Karty, were all driving forces behind the Rams win.  

“I’m excited. I thought our team as a whole played awesome tonight,” Stafford remarked. “There are plays you want back, no question about it, but we were really resilient. It took all phases. We had a punt return that set us up.” 

“The offense made some plays late in the game to get us some points [and] our defense did a great job getting off the field. It took everybody and [we] had to make a kick at the end of the game to win it. It’s a really cool team win, a fun to be part of. [I’m] just proud of the guys and the way they prepared all week and the way we played,” he added.  

While this was just one game out of a long 18-week (including a bye week) season, the Rams needed this win in Week 3. Going down 0-3 to start the season was not an option for McVay’s team. The Rams played that way in the second half.    

McVay talked about his team’s mental makeup to pull off a huge win against a divisional foe and a team that made its way to the last Super Bowl. 

“I think just considering the circumstances in the situation, I’m proud of the group,” McVay said. “This is a new group. Every year’s a new year. When you look at just some of the different things, some of the adversity that this group had to overcome, and it is three games, right? It’s one game.” 

“It’s week three of an 18-week season with a bye in between. You [have] 17 of these guaranteed. I’m really proud of the group but I think what comes to mind is mental, physical toughness. Most importantly the mental toughness, the resilience,” McVay went on to say.