our reactions to the 9ers game

I think we can win reasonably often when we hold the other team to 6 points.

First time in Stafford’s career he’s gone 5 straight games without an INT.

Best performance by the defense this year. Great against the run and pass.

Greenlaw getting hurt helped the Rams’ running game. KW started rolling when he went out. Apparently Greenlaw’s back-up refused to go into the game, said he quits, and walked into the locker room in the third quarter. I love it when the 9’ers are self -destructing.

Stafford continues to make plays when they need them. He’s as reliable as death and taxes.

One of the celebrity pundits noted that for a long time, during the Shanahan dominance of McVay, the 49ers were usually the more physical team. They just beat the rams up. But lately maybe the Rams are, at least, as physical. I dunno.

w
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zn wrote:

wv wrote:

I guess it played a big part? So, its not really just the ‘defense finally showed up’ – its more like neither teams offense could handle the weather?

The weather was a huge part of it in the first half. You could see the rain pouring down on them the whole first half.

Plus the SF defense, which is a very good one, was just all over the Rams in the first half. No one was open. It’s like they knew the playcalls.

But the rain stopped in the 2nd half. The Rams defensive stats in the 2nd half was really their doing, they came through. Weather was not a factor then. Though admittedly the SF offense was missing key players.

^^^This^^^

The Rams got absolutely nothing going until about their 4th or 5th possession when they adjusted the plan, and quit trying to go Pass First. As zn said, nobody was open, and the ball was slipping out of Stafford’s hand (I guess), because he had some pretty bad throws. The Rams were lucky that the 9ers whiffed a couple of INTs. They finally just gave the ball to Williams, and he did enough to move the chains. Nothing spectacular, but he was probably the most important player last night. The guy is something. It’s like the first time he gets hit, the tackle is just a suggestion. It takes a couple more people to intervene and get him to go down.

Then it quit raining at the half, and the Rams got a little bit more going. The 9ers were playing tough, but the Rams just gutted it out.

The 9ers have to feel like they blew it, though. Dropped INTs. Deebo’s drop on 3rd down that was going to be a big play, possibly a TD. The Williams interception that Purdy made a terrible throw on – and he had Pearsall WIDE OPEN in the flat. Purdy was just trying to do too much on that one.

I’m getting ahead of myself now, but it looks like the Rams can/will win the division even after that 1-4 start.

BTW. Puka Nacua. Good grief.

Enjoyable game, but less so than when they score at least a touchdown. Defense was excellent against the run, and there were fewer missed tackles. Nice to see the young D coalesce, etc.

As others have mentioned, rain was an obvious factor — for the offenses of both teams.

It may be one of those years in which the Rams need to win the division to get into the playoffs. With the final two games against the Cards and the Seahawks, they control their own destiny.

I like their chances.