The San Francisco 49ers are back to their winning ways, defeating the Los Angeles Rams 31-14 to improve to 4-4 on the year. The victory extends the 49ers regular season win-streak against LA to eight-straight games. After trailing 14-10 at the half, San Francisco shut out the Rams and put up 21 unanswered points to secure the win at SoFi Stadium.
"I'm really happy and proud of the team today (Sunday)," head coach Kyle Shanahan said. "It was all three phases, all the players, we needed everybody, and everyone had their part."
Here are 7 takeaways from Sunday's 49ers-Rams game:
Christian McCaffrey is a do-it-all player
Last week the 49ers newest running back had about 20 plays available to him. Fast forward to Week 8, and it is apparent that McCaffrey has absorbed the playbook over the last week. In addition to his 149 total yards and two touchdowns, the 49ers all-around back used his arm in Sunday's contest to throw a 34-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Aiyuk as part of a trick play double pass. The play was a call back to a 24-yard touchdown pass thrown by Deebo Samuel to Jauan Jennings at SoFi Stadium in Week 18 of last season.
"I remember Thursday night when we were doing the red zone (game planning), I yelled down the rooms to anyone that will answer, 'Does anyone know if Christian can throw?'" Shanahan said. "Brian Fleury emailed or sent through text a video of him throwing a 53-yarder a few years ago. When I saw that, I felt he could throw, and we repped it in practice the next day. He threw it well then, and he threw it great today."
"I was fired up," McCaffrey added. "BA made a great play. That's a tough catch having to turn like that. I was super happy when he caught it because that was a tough catch. He made me look good, so I was fired up for it."
Jimmy Garoppolo puts together a triple digit passer rating
Garoppolo's 132.5 passer rating marks his fourth 100+ rating of the 2022 season and his highest rating since Week 10 of the 2021 season against the Rams. Garoppolo closed out Sunday's game completing 21-of-25 passes for 235 yards and two touchdowns. San Francisco's offense struggled to find consistency in the first and second quarters and rallied to put up 21 unanswered points in the second half.
Aiyuk keeps production up in 2022
Aiyuk hauled in his fourth touchdown of the season, catching a 34-yard dime from McCaffrey. The third-year wideout is doubling his production from last season (230 yards and 2 TDs) through the first eight weeks of the season, racking up 483 receiving yards and four touchdowns in 2022.
Robbie Gould hits another career milestone
The veteran kicker hit another important career benchmark in Week 8 against the Rams. Gould became the 11th all-time NFL points leader after sinking a PAT and a 29-yard field goal for San Francisco in the second quarter of Sunday's contest. He jumped up one spot in the rankings, replacing fellow kicker Stephen Gostkowski with 1,876 total points. Gould added another three PATs in the second half.
Ray-Ray McCloud III's fumble recovery saves the drive
The wideout recovered a fumble by McCaffrey on the 49ers second drive of the third quarter to keep San Francisco's offense on the field. The 49ers went on to score on this possession, capping off an 11-play, 88-yard drive with a nine-yard touchdown catch by No. 23. The heads up play by McCloud III and the score by McCaffrey changed the momentum of the game for San Francisco.
McCaffrey makes history with his passing, receiving and rushing TD
McCaffrey will go down in the history books as the first 49ers running back to record a passing touchdown and receiving touchdown in the same game. McCaffrey threw a 34-yard touchdown to Aiyuk in the second quarter of Sunday's game and then made an end zone grab in the third quarter to cement his name in San Francisco lore. To add to an already impressive day, McCaffrey then scored a one-yard rushing touchdown to open up the final frame of the game; that touchdown makes him one of four players in NFL history to register all three since the 1970 merger.
The 49ers regular season win-streak over the Rams extends to eight-straight games
With the 31-14 win on Sunday, San Francisco completed their regular season sweep of Los Angeles and extended the 49ers regular season win-streak over the Rams to eight-straight games. The last time Los Angeles beat the 49ers in a regular season game was in Week 17 of the 2018 season.
"It (the victory) was big," Garoppolo said. "I know our core group of leaders in there, we've tried to emphasize to the guys that's how (playing complementary football) we've made our runs in the past. It's how we smother teams when we score, stop, score. That's a terrible feeling on the other sideline. The more we can do that and be on the same page with our defense and special teams, all complementing each other, it's a dangerous combination."
Fred Warner and Nick Bosa snag some sacks
The veteran linebacker owns the two sacks from Sunday's game against Los Angeles. Warner sacked Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford on the second drive of the third quarter for a loss of nine yards; the sack is his first of the 2022 season. The sack helped the 49ers defense to force their first three-and-out of the second half and contributed to San Francisco's shutout in the final two quarters of the game. Bosa added one more sack to bring his total to eight for the season, tying him (as of early Sunday evening) for second-most sacks in the league.
