Shanahan Out-Coaches McVay, 49ers beat Rams 24-16
Santa Clara, CA – After his squad suffers a humiliating 43-17 a loss to the Miami Dolphins in week 5, 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan redeemed himself on Sunday night, with the Niners downing the NFC West’s division leader (and rival), Los Angeles Rams, 24-16 for the San Fran’s 1sthome win of the season.
Shanahan out-schemed McVay
Kyle Shanahan has had his work cut out for him since the start of the NFL season. Franchise QB Jimmy Garoppolo went down in week 2 vs the New York Jets with a high ankle sprain. Garoppolo was out for 2 weeks, in which the Niners went 1-1 without him, and when he tried to force himself to return for their week 5 game against the Dolphins, Garoppolo was benched at half time of the game, having completed only 41% of his passes for 77 yards and two interceptions. Injuries have been the theme of the 49ers season, with San Fran missing their top three pass rushers (Nick Bosa, Dee Ford, & Solomon Thomas), a starting corner (Richard Sherman), and a plethora of starting wideouts and running backs that is just too long to list.
Any other coach would blame the injuries for the woes of his team, coasting to just get through the season. Shanahan, however, schemes around his roster holes and executes. And against the Rams, the 4th-year head coach found a winning formula. The 49ers went for a slow, ground-and-pound offensive approach against the Rams D, tiring the Rams front 7 out while keeping the DB’s on their toes when San Fran went for the pass on play-action and screen passes. They ran 70 offensive plays to the Rams’ 57, nearly double the time of possession (San Fran: 37:55, L.A.: 22:05), and kept the Rams’ elite pass rusher in Aaron Donald to just two tackles and a single QB hit. “[It was] Impressive,” Garoppolo told NBC News’ Michele Tafoya in his post-game presser. “Guys who didn’t get a ton of reps before stepped up and pulled off the win for us tonight.”
Garoppolo, still hobbled by that high-ankle sprain, didn’t attempt too many downfield passes, often opting for quick dump-offs, short field passes, and screens. According to Next Gen Stats, Garoppolo averaged 1.8 completed air yards per pass, with his receivers finding holes in the coverage to rack up the YAC. Garoppolo finished the night completing 23/33 (70% completion) for 268 yards, and three touchdowns. Star tight end George Kittle (7-109-1) once again was the 49ers main passing attack, with Deebo Samuel (6-66-1) coming at a close second, usually getting his touches out of jet sweeps. On the ground, Raheem Mostert (17-65) was the bell cow back, but left the game with an injury and was ruled out, leaving Jerick McKinnon (6-18) and rookie special teamer JaMycal Hasty (9-37) to pick up the slack.
On defense, it was the veteran corner Jason Verrett’s night to shine. The 29-year-old former first-round pick had endured so many season-ending injuries the past three years, that he used tonight to remind people he’s still an elite corner. He had two pass deflections on the night, helped keep both Rams’ star wideouts, Cooper Kupp & Robert Woods, to less than 100 yards receiving combined, and picked off Jared Goff on fourth down in the endzone.
Rams get rammed by Niners
Going into Sunday Night’s NFC West showdown, the Rams were riding a hot streak; beating the New York Giants and Washington Football Team in back-to-back weeks to sweep the NFC East. Star defensive tackle Aaron Donald racked up three sacks against Washington, putting the 2x DPOY on pace to break the single-season sack record, while quarterback Jared Goff downplayed mistakes by taking care of the rock and distributing the ball evenly between his carousel of pass catchers.
And yet, head coach Sean McVay couldn’t find a way to scheme around a 49ers team that was missing playmakers on both sides of the ball. The Rams played down to the 49ers in the first quarter, getting outgained 134-21 total offensive yards. For a team that averaged 27.2 points per game, the fact that they were kept to just seven in the first half was shocking, to say the least. It wasn’t just one player that couldn’t get anything going; the whole team just seemed lost out there. Jared Goff was kept to just under 200 yards passing, completing 19/38 (50% completion) of his passes for two touchdowns and a momentum-killing interception by Jason Verrett. Tight end Tyler Higbee (3-56) led the corps in yards, while Robert woods (4-29) and Cooper Kupp (3-11) were completely shut down by the 49ers’ depleted secondary. Little known Rams receiver Josh Reynolds (2-45-1) was the only playmaker in the Rams passing game, climbing up the ladder to make an incredible 40-yard catch in the endzone that brought the Rams back to within 8 in the fourth quarter with 3:24 left on the clock. In the running game, rookie back Cam Akins was nowhere to be seen, as Darrell Henderson Jr. (14-88) got the bulk of the work. A curious strategy by McVay, as Akins was active on the night.
Over on defense, the NFL’s sack leader, DT Aaron Donald, was kept quiet; something you never hear anyone say when talking about the all-pro interior lineman. In fact, the entire Rams defense was kept quiet on the night, with LB Micah Kiser and DB Josh Johnson III leading the team in tackles with 13 each, while DL Sebastian Joseph-Day had two QB hits on the night.
Coming up next…
It’s a family reunion for 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, as San Fran travels East to Foxborough to play a New England Patriots team that only scored 12 points in a losing effort against the Denver Broncos.
As for the Rams, the schedule does not ease up Los Angeles, as they’re set to host an on-the-rise Bears team that outlasted the Carolina Panthers in a 23-16 defense-heavy battle down in Charlotte.
Writer
-By: Juan Guarin-Camargo