Defense throttles Rams as 49ers win Week 6 NFC bout 20-7

The San Francisco 49ers endured what surely looked like their toughest challenge of the 2019 season to date: a Week 6 road matchup against the Los Angeles Rams.

The Niners ended up winning the game 20-7, improving to a still-perfect 5-0 in this crucial NFC West bout. And by doing so, San Francisco stays in first place within the conference and the division -- especially important, given the 5-1 Seattle Seahawks won on the road over the Cleveland Browns this week.

San Francisco didn't start off too well, going 3-and-out before surrendering a quick Rams touchdown early in the first quarter. Overall, the Niners had issues with Los Angeles' rushing attack, which was without All-Pro Todd Gurley, as the Rams rushed for a total of 109 yards in the game -- an average of 5.0 yards per carry, which also ended the Niners' streak of not allowing a rushing touchdown on the season. But most of those numbers came in the first half.

It was a relatively sloppy first half of football for the 49ers, who still managed a touchdown run late in the first quarter to tie things up. And that score held, despite a red-zone interception thrown by quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, but surely influenced by a goal-line stand by San Francisco's defense:

The 49ers defense kept up the pace to start the second half, taking advantage of a botched and fumbled toss to Rams running back Darrell Henderson, which defensive tackle Arik Armstead recovered. And that turnover culminated in Garoppolo taking it in for a 1-yard sneak to put the Niners ahead 14-7:

Garoppolo finished the day 24-of-33 for 243 yards, zero touchdowns through the air, against one interception for a passer rating of 80.7.

Meanwhile, San Francisco did a good job frustrating Los Angeles quarterback Jared Goff, who had just 27 first-half yards through the air, albeit due to the Rams' success running the ball. Goff went 13-of-24 for a career-low 78 yards, zero touchdowns or interceptions and a passer rating of 60.8. The Niners managed to sack him four times, too.

Los Angeles was 0-of-9 on third-down tries, too. Its fourth-down attempts weren't successful, either.

Despite the 49ers' early issues moving the ball on the ground, head coach Kyle Shanahan didn't let his offense go one-dimensional. Running back Tevin Coleman managed 45 rush yards during the game, also scoring the first touchdown of the day for San Francisco. In total, the Niners had 101 yards on the ground.

Yet one of the game's better standouts for San Francisco was much-maligned wide receiver Dante Pettis, who had some crucial grabs in key situations. He finished with three catches for 45 yards, while tight end George Kittle continued his ways, hauling in eight catches for 103 yards, too.

Coleman nearly had a touchdown reception late in the third quarter, which would have given San Francisco a commanding two-touchdown lead. But the off-target pass bounced off his hands, which forced the 49ers to settle for a short field goal from kicker Robbie Gould to make things 17-7 with just under five minutes remaining in the quarter.

Gould tacked on another field goal early in the fourth quarter, increasing the lead to 20-7 and chewing up 6:38 of clock as well.

Things got a bit interesting later in the fourth quarter, though, as Garoppolo fumbled on a third-down play, and Rams linebacker Corey Littleton recovered before lateraling it to cornerback Nickell Robey-Coleman, who returned it into San Francisco territory. Yet the Niners defense held again, preventing Los Angeles from converting on third or fourth down and giving the ball back to their offense in the waning minutes:

The Rams tried to answer back their following possession, too, but that failed to go anywhere. And the Niners were able to run down the clock, maintaining the perfect record and putting yet another game between them and the reigning NFC champions for division command.

• Written by:
  Peter Panacy
  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.
  All articles by Peter Panacy
  @PeterPanacy

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