A standout performance from Robert Saleh's defense led the San Francisco 49ers to a 20-7 win over the Los Angeles Rams to improve to 5-0 on the year.
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Final Score
San Francisco 49ers 20, Los Angeles Rams 7
San Francisco 49ers
George Kittle displayed great speed and power after the catch on a few big plays in this game. He turned a 20-yard completion into a gain of 45-plus yards after breaking a couple of tackles and carrying defenders inside the 10-yard line.
Jimmy Garoppolo was not asked to do very much in this game. He made few nice throws to pick up first downs, but the 49ers used a lot of screen passes to negate the pass-rush of the Rams. He had one terrible interception in the red zone, throwing it up for grabs directly to Marcus Peters.
Dee Ford was a monster rushing the quarterback for the 49ers' defense. His two sacks went along with a couple of hurries and another couple of pass rushes in which he easily beat his blocker. His combination of hand usage and speed around the edge proved way too much for the Rams right tackle Rob Havenstein to handle.
Jimmie Ward had a great game, but it was a fantastic two-play stretch that he had late in the fourth to single-handedly stop a drive. He played tight coverage on Gerald Everett and knocked the ball away before he could make a catch on third down. Then, on the very next play, Ward was all over Cooper Kupp and prevented him from making a catch that would've moved the chains on fourth down.
Los Angeles Rams
The defensive line of the Rams was very active in both the run and pass game. Aaron Donald and Sebastian Joseph-Day were in the backfield all game. They did not have as big of an impact since the 49ers were getting the ball out of the quarterback's hands quickly in the passing game, as well as using screens to keep the rush off balance.
The Rams' linebackers struggled when asked to drop in zone coverage. There were a number of plays where the targeted receiver was open by a few yards and a few coverage busts by the linebackers. The pass defense as a whole did not force Garoppolo to get off his first option very often, which hurt the pass-rush of the Rams.
Jared Goff had a very poor performance in this game, and not just as a result of a good 49ers' defense. Goff struggled to get the ball to his receivers, often one-hopping throws to them even when they were open. He almost exclusively looked short on all his throws and while he didn't have any dangerous ones, he just missed far too many easy ones.
Malcolm Brown got off to a hot start as he opened the game with four great rushes to lead the Rams down the field for their only touchdown drive of the game. His one-hop cut into holes and then explosive bursts looked good early on, but he fell flat for the rest of the game.
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