| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Tot | |
| LA | 3 | 19 | 10 | 7 | 39 |
| SF | 0 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 10 |
The San Francisco 49ers fell to 1-6 after suffering an embarrassing 39-10 defeat to the visiting Los Angeles Rams in Week 7 -- a game in which the Niners' problems with turnovers reached new heights.
As cliche as it is, it's hard to win NFL games turning the football over a lot. But that's what happened for the San Francisco 49ers in Week 7 against the undefeated Los Angeles Rams, who managed to score 17 first-half points off three Niners turnovers in the first half en route to a 39-10 one-sided victory for L.A.
49ers quarterback C.J. Beathard was responsible for two of those first-half turnovers -- one a strip-sack fumble recovered by the Rams and an interception thrown, picked off by Los Angeles cornerback Troy Hill. And he added another interception in the third quarter, which eclipsed the 2.7 turnover-per-game average Beathard had over his three 2018 starts entering this contest.
San Francisco came into the game with a league-worst minus-11 turnover differential. After falling to the Rams in Week 7 and committing four more turnovers, that differential now stands at minus-15.
Beathard looked nothing like the confident, poised signal-caller we saw in prime time against the Green Bay Packers on Monday Night Football in Week 6. While Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald was his usual dominant self, Beathard didn't help his own case by frequently holding onto the ball for too long and taking seven sacks in the process.
Donald had four of them.
On the afternoon, Beathard went 15-of-27 for 170 yards, a touchdown against two interceptions -- all for a passer rating of 56.1. His touchdown to tight end George Kittle at the end of the first half was nice, as Kittle's second year at the pro level continues to be stellar. But his physicality on a reception before the touchdown was arguably more impressive:
George Kittle seems mad about something. #49ers #LARvsSF pic.twitter.com/ApJ0L1Uffi
— Rob Lowder (@Rob_Lowder) October 21, 2018
But Kittle and the offense weren't enough to stop the Rams from netting 331 total yards of offense. The 49ers defense managed to contain running back Todd Gurley well enough over the first half. Unsurprisingly, though, Gurley managed to pick things up in the second half and finished with 63 yards on the ground, 23 yards through the air and three total touchdowns.
Meanwhile, the 49ers got almost zero help out of their wide receivers, who accounted for just four catches for 35 yards combined.
In total, the Rams accounted for 24 points off the four San Francisco turnovers. Teams aren't going to win games when losing the turnover differential that badly. Especially when it's a one-win squad going up against an undefeated bunch this deep into the season.
The 49ers now fall to 1-6 on the year but can at least look forward to exacting some revenge against the one-win Arizona Cardinals in Week 8. But the Cardinals took advantage of five Niners turnovers in that game, so maybe that's not exactly something San Francisco can look forward to either.
| LA | Team Stats | SF |
| 20 | First Downs | 16 |
| 331 | Total Yards | 228 |
| 185 | Pass Yards | 121 |
| 146 | Rush Yards | 107 |
| 1 (10) | Penalties (Yds) | 2 (10) |
| 0 | Turnovers | 4 |
| 4 (29) | Punts (Avg) | 5 (21) |
| 32:51 | Time of Pos. | 27:09 |
| Rams Player Stats | ||||
| Passing | Cmp/Att | Yds | TDs | INTs |
| J. Goff | 18/24 | 202 | 2 | 0 |
| Rushing | Att | Yds | TDs | Lg |
| M. Brown | 13 | 65 | 0 | 10 |
| T. Gurley | 15 | 63 | 2 | 18 |
| B. Cooks | 1 | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| R. Woods | 1 | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| J. Goff | 2 | 4 | 0 | 5 |
| S. Mannion | 3 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| Receiving | Rec | Yds | TDs | Lg |
| R. Woods | 5 | 78 | 0 | 32 |
| B. Cooks | 4 | 64 | 1 | 23 |
| T. Gurley | 4 | 23 | 1 | 12 |
| N. Williams | 2 | 17 | 0 | 11 |
| J. Reynolds | 1 | 19 | 0 | 19 |
| M. Brown | 1 | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| G. Everett | 1 | -5 | 0 | -5 |
| Fumbles | Fum | Lost | Rec | Yds |
| J. Goff | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| A. Donald | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| T. Young | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kicking | FG | Lg | XP | Pts |
| G. Zuerlein | 3/3 | 37 | 4/4 | 13 |
| Punting | No | Avg | I20 | Lg |
| J. Hekker | 4 | 30.5 | 1 | 50 |
| Kickoff Returns | No | Avg | TDs | Lg |
| B. Countess | 1 | 24 | 0 | 24 |
| J. Natson | 1 | 23 | 0 | 23 |
| Punt Returns | No | Avg | TDs | Lg |
| J. Natson | 2 | 18 | 0 | 36 |
| Defense | T-A | Sck | INTs | FF |
| C. Littleton | 8-2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| A. Donald | 8-1 | 4 | 0 | 1 |
| M. Brockers | 4-1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| T. Hill | 4-0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| M. Barron | 1-3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| S. Ebukam | 3-0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| N. Suh | 2-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| J. Johnson | 2-0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| L. Joyner | 2-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| R. Wilson | 2-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| N. Robey | 1-1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| B. Hager | 1-1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| B. Countess | 1-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| S. Shields | 1-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| E. Westbrooks | 1-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| M. Christian | 1-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 49ers Player Stats | ||||
| Passing | Cmp/Att | Yds | TDs | INTs |
| C. Beathard | 15/27 | 170 | 1 | 2 |
| Rushing | Att | Yds | TDs | Lg |
| R. Mostert | 7 | 59 | 0 | 16 |
| A. Morris | 9 | 25 | 0 | 6 |
| M. Breida | 5 | 15 | 0 | 7 |
| C. Beathard | 2 | 13 | 0 | 13 |
| K. Juszczyk | 1 | -5 | 0 | -5 |
| Receiving | Rec | Yds | TDs | Lg |
| G. Kittle | 5 | 98 | 1 | 35 |
| R. Mostert | 4 | 19 | 0 | 23 |
| M. Goodwin | 2 | 24 | 0 | 17 |
| K. Juszczyk | 2 | 18 | 0 | 9 |
| T. Taylor | 1 | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| P. Garçon | 1 | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| Fumbles | Fum | Lost | Rec | Yds |
| C. Beathard | 2 | 1 | 1 | -3 |
| M. Breida | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Kicking | FG | Lg | XP | Pts |
| R. Gould | 1/1 | 51 | 1/1 | 4 |
| Punting | No | Avg | I20 | Lg |
| B. Pinion | 4 | 40 | 2 | 54 |
| Kickoff Returns | No | Avg | TDs | Lg |
| R. James | 1 | 21 | 0 | 21 |
| Punt Returns | No | Avg | TDs | Lg |
| R. James | 1 | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| Defense | T-A | Sck | INTs | FF |
| F. Warner | 4-4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| J. Tartt | 6-1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| D. Reed | 4-2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| A. Armstead | 5-0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| S. Thomas | 3-2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| K. Williams | 4-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| E. Mitchell | 3-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| D. Buckner | 3-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| S. Day | 2-1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| A. Witherspoon | 2-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| R. Foster | 2-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| M. Smith | 2-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| R. Blair | 1-1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| C. Marsh | 1-0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| A. Colbert | 1-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| G. Mabin | 1-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| E. Lee | 1-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| T. Moore | 0-1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
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Written by:Peter Panacy has been writing about the 49ers since 2011 for outlets like Bleacher Report, Niner Noise, 49ers Webzone, and is occasionally heard as a guest on San Francisco's 95.7 FM The Game and the Niners' flagship station, KNBR 680. Feel free to follow him, or direct any inquiries to his Twitter account.
