49ers turn in dominant performance in 31-10 pasting of Rams

Things didn't look good for the San Francisco 49ers on paper heading into their home matchup against the Los Angeles Rams on Monday night, having lost five of their past six games while not having won a game at Levi's Stadium in over a year.

But Monday night showed why NFL games aren't played on paper.

The star-studded Rams entered the game as a 3.5-point favorite and were a team expected by make a push towards the Super Bowl, while the 49ers had one of their low points the week before in an ugly 31-17 home loss to the Arizona Cardinals. But one might have thought it was the 49ers who were the Super Bowl contender and the Rams were an also-ran, based on how much of the game went.

The 49ers dominated the Rams Monday night, holding the ball for over 30 minutes through the first three quarters en route to a 31-10 victory. The win was the fifth straight over the Rams for the 49ers, whose last home win came over the Rams in October of 2020.

49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo threw for 182 yards and two touchdowns on 15-of-19 passing in the win, while wide receiver Deebo Samuel caught five of Garoppolo's passes for 97 yards and one touchdown while also carrying the ball five times for 36 yards and a touchdown. Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford threw for 243 yards on 26-of-41 passing with one touchdown and two interceptions.

First Half

The first quarter belonged to the 49ers, who turned an early interception into a 7-0 lead after a dominant opening drive. The interception came on the fourth play of the game, when Stafford went deep for new Rams receiver Odell Beckham, but instead found 49ers safety Jimmie Ward, who picked off the pass at the 7-yard line.

From there, the 49ers turned the interception into an impressively efficient drive: 18 plays for 93 yards in 11 minutes and three seconds with seven first downs, converted four-of-four third downs, and went five-of-five passing for 38 yards from Garoppolo. The drive was capped by an eight-yard touchdown pass from Garoppolo to tight end George Kittle.

Ward, who before this game did not have an interception since 2016, struck again on the next possession with a pick six to give the 49ers a 14-0 lead. Stafford threw a pass to tight end Tyler Higbee on a 3rd-and-11 on the third play of the drive, but the ball bounced off the hands of Higbee and into the arms of Ward, who ran 27 yards for a touchdown. Ward's interceptions were just the third and fourth of the season for the 49ers as a team.

Higbee and Stafford got some payback on the next drive, connecting on a touchdown pass to cut the 49ers' lead to 14-7 after a seven-play, 75-yard drive. Stafford found wide receiver Cooper Kupp for a 29-yard gain earlier in the drive while also completing an 11-yard pass to Beckham and a 16-yard pass to Van Jefferson, then got the ball to Higbee from ten yards out for the score.

The 49ers responded to the touchdown with another impressive scoring drive, this one spanning 91 yards on 11 plays in just under eight minutes. After a series of shorter gains earlier in the drive, the 49ers moved into Rams territory on a 20-yard pass from Garoppolo to wide receiver Deebo Samuel, then after a 21-yard completion to wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk later in the drive set up a 1st-and-Goal, Samuel ran in from eight yards out to give the 49ers a 21-7 lead.

The Rams had an opportunity to cut into the lead before halftime after driving deep into 49ers territory to set up a field goal attempt with 12 seconds left to play. But the Rams chose to go for a fake, having punter Johnny Hekker throw a pass to tight end Kendall Blanton in an attempt to get a first down. 49ers defensive tackle D.J. Jones was ready for the fake and blew up the play with a terrific open field tackle.

Jones' tackle wrapped up one of the best halves of football on the season for the 49ers, who held possession for over 19 minutes during the first half despite having just two offensive possessions. The 49ers were five-of-five on third down in the first half, while Garoppolo finished with 89 yards and one touchdown on eight-for-eight passing.

Second Half

The 49ers and Rams exchanged punts to start the second half before the 49ers got things going offensively once again, putting together a 10-play, 31-yard drive that finished up with a 50-yard field goal from kicker Robbie Gould to open up a 24-7 lead. The 49ers' defense followed up the field goal with a three-and-out, giving the ball back to the 49ers with just under four minutes left in the third quarter.

The Rams followed with another three-and-out to bring an end to the third quarter, then the 49ers faced a 4th-and-5 from the Rams' 40-yard line on their next drive with just over 11 minutes to play. 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan rolled the dice and decided to go for a first down rather than punt, which proved to be a good decision based on how many things were going the 49ers' way on Monday night. Garoppolo found Samuel over the middle on the play, and Samuel ran it in from there for a 40-yard touchdown and a 31-7 lead.

The Rams held onto the ball for 14 plays on the next drive before turning the ball over on downs, then the 49ers punted the ball back to the Rams after a three-and-out with 4:59 left to play. The Rams then put together a seven-play, 33-yard drive that ended with a 37-yard field goal to cut the lead to 31-10. The 49ers were able to use up most of the remaining game clock on their next possession, while the Rams chose to run out the clock with 24 seconds left to play.

The 49ers finished the game with a time of possession edge of 39:03 to 20:57 and a total yardage edge of 335 total yards to 278. The Rams were held to 3-of-10 on third down and 0-for-2 on fourth down, while the 49ers converted eight of their 14 third down opportunities.

The 49ers (4-5) head back on the road next week with an early road game (1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT) in Jacksonville against the Jaguars (2-7). Things don't get any easier next week for the Rams (7-3), who head to Lambeau Field in Green Bay for a 4:25 p.m. ET/1:25 p.m. PT kickoff against the 8-2 Packers.