Christian McCaffrey and the San Francisco 49ers had to sweat and claw for their nail-biting victory over the Los Angeles Rams in overtime, 26-23, on Thursday at SoFi Stadium.
The 49ers allowed the Rams to fight back from a double-digit deficit at halftime and force an extension. Eddie Piñeiro converted a 41-yard field goal to secure the win for San Francisco, which improved to 4-1.
The 49ers survived the absence of Brock Purdy, who reaggravated his turf toe injury and is considered week-to-week. Mac Jones stepped up in his place and threw for 342 yards and two touchdowns, including one to McCaffrey.
The 29-year-old running back was relieved to have escaped the Rams. He also pointed out that they still need to work on their running game.
“Everybody and their mother wants the running game to get going, but the most important thing is getting the win, and I love playing with these guys and how we’re fighting right now,” said McCaffrey, as reported by The Athletic's Vic Tafur.
It was also perhaps a dig at their critics. The former Offensive Player of the Year rushed for 57 yards on a game-high 22 carries. He also had eight receptions for 82 yards.
As a whole, the 49ers rushed for 74 yards. They are only averaging 85.2 per game this season, which puts them in the bottom half of the NFL.
Still, the win over the Rams showed their grit and resolve, especially since the 49ers were undermanned. Aside from Purdy, San Francisco also lost Kalia Davis, Yetur Gross-Matos, and Upton Stout to injuries during the game.
“We talked about how long this game was going to be, how focused we had to be, and how competitive we had to be for the entire time. Started out great, but it’s a good team. They tightened it up. Got real tight, then lost a number of dudes,” said coach Kyle Shanahan in a report from the Associated Press.
“It was a huge character win.”
