By: Bryan Bauer
The San Francisco 49ers came into this game on life support after getting blown out by the Miami Dolphins last week. Never thought after going to the Super Bowl last year we would see the 49ers have a losing record. As we went into this game, we were looking at 2-3 team that has been hobbled with injuries. Players like Nick Bosa, Dee Ford, Richard Sherman, Kwon Alexander, Tevin Coleman, K’waun Williams, Soloman Thomas all out or on injured reserve this game did not look good.
We talked about the offensive line that has blown assignments through the first five games and there was no continuity before tonight. They had to face the best defense they will face all year long. Aaron Donald should scare any offensive lineman ,Daniel Brunskill took care of him all game long and then when needed , Ben Garland would help chip him and it was just a different feel to tonight game . They wanted to make sure Jimmy ankle would not get any worse and for the first time all year they allowed 0 sacks. Hopefully, this grows into the games coming up.
We just wrote a story on Jimmy Garoppolo if he was the answer to run this offense and at least for tonight the answer was yes. Kyle Shanahan came up with a great game plan to make sure Jimmy got rid of the ball quickly and the short pass game and it helped the 49ers dominate this entire first half of the game and into the second half .
They took a big chance on the fourth downplay inside the Rams 40-yard line and completed a slant pattern that George Kittle took to the house. This was the 49ers we remember of last year and who knows maybe this is exactly what they needed to get them rolling again.
The difference of the defense was having Jason Verrett playing at such a high level and finally getting back Emmanuel Mosley to play the other side of the corner back spots. When you really do not have a pass rush and great cornerback coverage this will make the quarterback hold it for a second more then he wants to and mess up there timing. That is exactly what happened tonight, and it felt good to get a win and the first win at Levi stadium.
Deebo Samuel was the dagger of this game from a jet sweep touchdown, to a third down jet sweep that put the game away for good with him knocking players over like empty water bottles.
There is still a lot they can work on and hopefully with getting some players back every week it will help the coaching staff back to their winning ways.
Next Up: New England Patriots (2-3) Away @ 1:25 PM this Sunday