The San Francisco 49ers bounced back from a tough loss to Arizona last week, soundly defeating the Los Angeles Rams 31-10 on Monday Night Football. Levi's Stadium was rocking all night long, as the 49ers finally gave fans their first home win of the year.

San Fran improved to 4-5 on the season, and are now only one game out of a Wild Card spot. Here are three takeaways from the 49ers' big home win:

Welcome Back Jimmie Ward

After missing Week 8 with a quad injury, corner Jimmie Ward made an immediate impact, with two key interceptions. The first came on the Rams opening drive of the game, on a deep throw miscommunication between Matthew Stafford and Odell Beckham Jr.

Late in the first quarter, Ward took advantage of a ball that went right off tight end Tyler Higbee's hands and took it to the house to put the Niners up 14-0.

The 49ers secondary made Beckham Jr. essentially a non-factor in this game, as the former Browns receiver was only targeted three times, and only caught two passes for 18 yards. San Francisco also sacked Stafford twice and limited the Rams to a 30% conversion rate on third down. The Rams were stopped both times on 4th down and did a great job blowing up a fake field goal attempt to end the first half.

Keep Running The Ball

49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan dominated the clock on Monday night, running the ball 37 times with tailbacks Elijah Mitchell and Jeffery Wilson. The first drive for the Niners was 18-plays long, capped off by a George Kittle touchdown.

Jimmy Garoppolo only attempted 19 passes but was very efficient completing 79% of them for 182 yards and two touchdowns. The 49ers are realizing that in order to win, Jimmy G has to operate as a game manager. He's not a quarterback who can drop back and throw 40 times, or that will result in turnovers.

The key going forward is clear — the 49ers will need to win games by gaining early leads and grinding teams out on the ground, keeping offenses off the field. They did that on Monday, and as a result, Los Angeles was nearly doubled in terms of time of possession.

Deebo Samuel Is A Monster

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Deebo Samuel continues to be a game-changer for the 49ers and is quickly becoming one of the best receivers in all of football. On Monday against the Rams, Samuel ran the ball five times for 36 yards, plus had 97 receiving yards.

This included a massive 4th and 6 catch to seal in the deal in the final quarter:

Samuel now ranks second in NFL receiving yards behind Cooper Kupp, and will likely surpass 1,000 yards by next week when he faces the lowly Jaguars. Deebo's dominance should further be exploited with George Kittle now 100%, as the Pro Bowl tight end has only appeared in six games so far.

If wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk can start contributing some more, that's just another added bonus. Aiyuk has only one game with 50+ receiving yards this season after an encouraging rookie year in 2020. Samuel is undoubtedly the star of their wide receiver group and continues to shine.