The good, the bad, and the ugly in Rams 27-24 win over 49ers

The Los Angeles Rams season is not over after defeating the San Francisco 49ers 27-24. While the NFC Champions had the game within their grasps for much of Sunday’s match, LA completed the comeback and avoided the dreaded (0-3) start. Kyren Williams came back to life after a three game hiatus with three touchdowns and 116 total yards.

Here is the rest of the good, the bad, and the ugly.

The Good

Matthew Stafford steals Niners’ souls

Don’t get it twisted—this was a masterclass quarterback performance from Matthew Stafford. A lot of credit goes to the offensive line who later in the game did enough to give the Super-Bowl winning quarterback time to make some throws and open some holes for Williams. Stafford finished 16 of 25 for 221 yards and a touchdown but his presence on the field meant much more than his base stats. He consistently got LA’s offense to the right call, including Williams final touchdown to tie the game. His deep pass to Tutu Atwell in the final minutes of Sunday game looked a whole lot like Cooper Kupp’s reception against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the Divisional Round of LA’s Super Bowl run.

Stafford isn’t going anywhere. Despite what weapons he has around him, as long as he is on the field LA has a chance to win every Sunday.

Special Teams secures LA victory

With both the offense and the defense looking to repeat last week’s embarrassment it was the Rams Special Teams that came in for the rescue. Down 14-0 in the second quarter and in danger of giving the ball back to Brock Purdy, Ronnie Rivers took a direct snap to convert the first down. Stafford would find Kyren Williams in the same drive for LA’s first score of the game.

In the fourth quarter it became a combined effort. The defense was able to make a stop with just (1:02) left in regulation and on the ensuing punt Xavier Smith was able to make a tackler miss and give LA incredible field position on a 38-yard return. Joshua Karty, who was nursing an injury all week, finished the game with a 37-yard field goal to send the red sea back to the escalators.

The special team woes from last year held this team back—they have it figured out in 2024.

Byron Young and Tutu Atwell have a special games

For all the hype surrounding the rest of the defensive front, Byron Young’s big day would have been hard to predict. The second year defender recorded four tackles, two of which were tackles for losses, a forced fumble, and had a huge hit on a receiver to force an incompletion. While Jared Verse has continued to look impressive he has also failed to finish the job, Young is the closer of the defense and has looked the best in the group thus far.

On the other side of the ball Tutu Atwell got his first real opportunity to make an impact on offense and he did not disappoint (despite some bobbled catches that could have gone the wrong way). He finished as Stafford’s top target with four receptions for 93 yards including a 50-yard bomb that began LA’s comeback in the fourth quarter. Atwell is a threat to the defense whenever he is on the field as well as a huge asset in McVay’s blocking schemes. What will not be seen on the scoreboard is the pass interference call he drew to secure a 48-yard gain. With Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp out for the foreseeable future someone will need to step up—by the looks of it Atwell is ready to earn his contract.

The Bad

Demarcus Robinson does little with his opportunities

This was supposed to be the week that Demarcus Robinson was thrusted into the number one receiving role with LA’s stars out with injuries. It almost was. Robinson was targeted four times but only came down with one catch for 32-yards. He had other opportunities for big gains, including a bomb from Atwell that at first looked like a catch but upon further inspection was an incompletion due to ball not being fully secured. He nearly had another decent gain on the sideline near the redzone but could not catch the ball or toe-tap inbounds. He will look to have a bounce-back game next Sunday but there were a number of opportunities missed in this one.

Cobie Durant nearly gives the game away

Everything seemingly went wrong for the Rams last week against the Arizona Cardinals and it was looking the same way in the first half of Sunday’s game—that was until something finally went in their direction. With (1:08) left in regulation Purdy launched a deep pass to a very open Ronnie Bell but the receiver could not handle the catch and it would fall harmlessly to the ground. If the catch were made the 49ers would have been in field goal territory and likely walked away with a win.

Durant has been solid this season and has looked outstanding to his counterpart Tre’Davious White, but his mistake in coverage nearly cost the Rams. Luckily, that scenario will never see the light-of-day.

The Ugly

Rams defense continues to struggle but shows improvement

Chris Shula’s defense is single-handedly trying to save offense in the NFL. Without a consistent pass rush, the ability to stop the run, and a secondary that looks lost, LA has made all of their opponents look like top-5 offenses in the league. Sunday was no different. Just like previous weeks the secondary allowed yet another career day for a receiver, this time it was Jauan Jennings doing the damage. He finished the game with 11 receptions for 175 yards and three touchdowns—many of those yards coming with ease after Jennings was left wide open multiple times.

On paper the rest of the Niners offense was held in check. Jordan Mason had 19 carries for 77 yards and an average of just 4.1 yards but Purdy was able to do some damage of his own on the ground with 41 yards on nine carries. Mason was effective in the first half but was utilized less as the game wore on with the pass game seemingly unstoppable in large portions of Sunday. The Rams also hurt themselves a lot by committing a number of penalties to keep drives alive on third downs.

Despite keeping the score close enough to give Stafford a chance to win it, there are some concerning patterns that need to be corrected as the season continues.

1. The big chunk plays on both the ground and air.
2. The defensive line’s inability to get the QB down despite getting pressure.
3. The miss tackles that continue to pile up.

This is a young defense with a rookie defensive coordinator and it may take patience to see what this unit can actually be. Until then, it can be frustrating to watch but today they did enough to win the game.