The San Francisco 49ers absolutely wrecked the Los Angeles Rams on Monday Night Football, earning a dominant 31-10 victory behind a strong performance on both sides of the ball. The 49ers set the tone right away with an interception of Matthew Stafford and then an 18-play, 93-yard touchdown drive that chewed up 11:03.
From there, it was all 49ers in the crucial victory to get to 4-5 on the season. After the game, 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo was asked about that opening drive. He basically admitted it sucked the soul out of Los Angeles:
Jimmy Garoppolo on the 49ers' 18-play opening drive:
"I don’t want to say it took their soul away, but it definitely did something."
— Matt Barrows (@mattbarrows) November 16, 2021
San Francisco badly needed this win after an embarrassing loss to the Kyler Murray-less Arizona Cardinals the week before. There was a ton of Rams hype coming into this matchup after the additions of Von Miller and Odell Beckham Jr., both of whom made their respective debuts with the team.
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But instead of Los Angeles using this game as a stepping stone to greatness, it was the 49ers who looked the part of a Super Bowl contender in this lopsided affair. San Francisco still has a long way to go to prove it can be a legitimate threat, but this was a great performance.
Garoppolo didn't put up huge numbers, but he did his job by connecting on 15-of-19 pass attempts for 182 yards and a pair of scores. The 49ers controlled the game on the ground (156 rushing yards) and stymied a Rams offense that has suddenly looked very mortal the last two weeks.
This victory keeps San Francisco right in the thick of things in the NFC playoff race. At 4-5, the 49ers are just a half-game back of the seventh-seeded Carolina Panthers. There's still a lot of time left in the season to make a move, so the 49ers will try to build momentum off this win.
Meanwhile, Los Angeles is down to 7-3 after the 7-1 start, placing them in the No. 5 slot in the NFC.
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