49ers crush new-look Rams in 'humbling' second straight defeat for Super Bowl hopefuls
Having not won a home game in over a year, it seems like the San Francisco 49ers only enjoy hosting one team these days.
Bolstered by the acquisitions of Odell Beckham Jr. and Von Miller, the Los Angeles Rams ran out in Santa Clara on Monday Night Football looking to snap both their 49ers losing streak and bounce back from last week's loss to the Tennessee Titans -- they left flattened by a bruising 31-10 defeat that merely spawned further unwanted records.
The previously faltering 49ers (4-5) had lost four of their last five games yet dominated throughout to record their fifth straight victory over the Rams and their first win at the Levi's Stadium since a 24-16 triumph over LA in October 2020.
After recovering from defeat to the Arizona Cardinals to roar to four consecutive wins through October, a second consecutive loss this month will come as a bitter blow to the Rams (7-3) -- a disappointment compounded by Beckham Jr. and Miller's muted debuts.
This month's arrivals of three-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Beckham Jr. and three-time first-team All-Pro outside linebacker Miller -- acquired from the Denver Broncos -- had been tipped to boost the Rams' Super Bowl ambitions, but both struggled to impose themselves in their first outing.
OBJ finished with 18 yards from two catches, while Miller made just three tackles as the Rams defense failed to get a handle on 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo -- who racked up two touchdown passes, 182 yards and no interceptions from 15 of 19 attempts.
Rush Hour
Though far from dazzling, Garoppolo's precision passing complemented a battering rushing offense that saw the 49ers run the ball 44 times for 156 yards, running back Elijah Mitchell leading the way with 91 rushing yards from 27 runs.
It marked an emphatic meeting of 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan's targets -- who revealed after the game that the team had set a pre-game goal of 40 carries.
Meanwhile, 49ers wide receiver Deebo Samuel continued his impressive season with another excellent performance, receiving and rushing for a touchdown apiece for a total of 133 yards. With 979 total receiving yards this season, the 25-year-old is second only to the Rams' Cooper Kupp.
Garoppolo's assured passing served as a stark contrast to Rams QB Matthew Stafford, who -- despite eventually throwing for a touchdown and 243 yards -- was intercepted twice by Jimmie Ward, the second for a pick-six.
It is the first time since his 2009 rookie season that Stafford -- bested by the Titans' Kevin Byard last week -- has been pick-sixed in consecutive games.
Stafford and the Rams head into a bye week that will give them the chance to take stock before facing the Green Bay Packers on November 28, as coach Sean McVay looks to halt their recent slide and close the gap on the NFC West-leading Arizona Cardinals (8-2).
"Concentration lapses, guys just not making plays that they're accustomed to," McVay answered when asked by reporters what cost his team.
"Certainly, it was very uncharacteristic for a lot of guys. It wasn't just one guy in particular, it was a handful of guys -- everybody had a hand in this tonight.
"I choose to believe that these last couple weeks are not who we are ... these last two weeks have certainly been humbling.
"They came out, they were ready to go, and they made more plays than we did tonight."'
'They just outplayed us'
Beckham Jr. echoed his coach's assessment, accepting that the better team had won on the night.
"Any given Sunday, any team can win," Beckham Jr. said. "Tonight, the Niners came out and they played better than us in all phases of the game. And that's really the moral of the story. There's no trying to find what happened, they just outplayed us.
"I was excited. Felt like I was ready for the moment. I've been through so much and God has put me in this position for that exact moment.
"It just wasn't our night. There's really no way around it, it just wasn't our night."
As the Rams seek to halt their slide, the Niners will hope that Monday's victory will reignite their season after what had been a strong opening with two wins.
A matchup with the struggling Jacksonville Jaguars (2-7) on November 21 looks like the ideal occasion to continue momentum, and Garoppolo believes the team is on its way.
"This league isn't easy, every team is good -- we are going to go there [Jacksonville] ready to roll," Garoppolo said.
49人队在超级碗希望者连续第二次失利中击败了新面貌的公羊队
一年多没有赢得主场比赛，现在旧金山 49 人队似乎只喜欢接待一支球队。
在收购小奥德尔·贝克汉姆和冯·米勒的支持下，洛杉矶公羊队在周一晚上的圣克拉拉足球比赛中跑了出来，希望能够结束他们的 49 人队的连败，并从上周输给田纳西泰坦队的比赛中恢复过来——他们被压平了以 31-10 惨败，这只会产生更多不受欢迎的记录。
此前步履蹒跚的 49 人队（4-5）在过去五场比赛中输掉了四场，但自2020 年 10 月以 24-16 战胜洛杉矶以来，他们连续第五次战胜公羊队，并在李维斯球场取得第一场胜利。
在从输给亚利桑那红雀队的比赛中恢复到 10 月连续四场胜利之后，本月连续第二次失利将对公羊队（7-3）造成沉重打击——小贝克汉姆和米勒的首次亮相让失望更加严重.
本月三届职业碗外接手小贝克汉姆和三届一线队全职业外线卫米勒（从丹佛野马队获得）的到来被认为会提升公羊队的超级碗野心，但两者在他们的第一次郊游中努力强加自己。
OBJ 两次接球距离 18 码，而米勒仅进行了 3 次铲球，因为公羊队的防守未能控制住 49 人队四分卫吉米·加洛波罗，后者在 19 次尝试中有 15 次传球达阵，传球达 182 码且没有被拦截。
高峰时间
虽然远非令人眼花缭乱，但加洛波罗的精准传球补充了进攻性的冲球进攻，看到 49 人队 44 次将球跑了 156 码，跑卫以利亚米切尔在 27 次跑动中以 91 码领先。
这标志着 49 人队主教练凯尔沙纳汉的目标的一次重要会议 - 他在赛后透露球队设定了 40 次的赛前目标。
与此同时，49人队的外接手迪博·塞缪尔以另一场出色的表现延续了他令人印象深刻的赛季，接球并冲球达阵，总共达133码。本赛季共有 979 码接球，这位 25 岁的球员仅次于公羊队的库珀库普。
加洛波罗有把握的传球与公羊四分卫马修斯塔福德形成鲜明对比，后者尽管最终触地得分和 243 码被吉米沃德拦截两次，第二次被选六。
这是斯塔福德自 2009 年新秀赛季以来第一次 - 上周被泰坦队的凯文·拜德击败 - 在连续比赛中被选为六人组。
斯塔福德和公羊队进入再见周，这将使他们有机会在 11 月 28 日对阵绿湾包装工队之前进行盘点，因为教练肖恩麦克维希望停止他们最近的下滑并缩小与 NFC 西部领先的亚利桑那红雀队的差距(8-2)。
“注意力不集中，球员们只是没有按照他们习惯的方式进行比赛，”当记者问到他的球队付出了什么时，麦克维回答说。
“当然，这对很多人来说是非常不寻常的。不仅仅是一个人，而是少数几个人——今晚每个人都参与其中。
“我选择相信过去几周不是我们是谁......过去两周肯定令人感到谦卑。
“他们出来了，他们准备好了，他们打的比赛比我们今晚做的还多。”
'他们只是胜过我们'
小贝克汉姆回应了他教练的评估，承认更好的球队在当晚获胜。
“任何一个星期天，任何球队都可以获胜，”小贝克汉姆说。 “今晚，Niners 出来了，他们在比赛的所有阶段都比我们打得更好。这真的是故事的寓意。没有试图找出发生了什么，他们只是打得比我们好。
“我很兴奋。感觉我已经准备好了。我经历了这么多，上帝让我在那个时刻处于这个位置。
“这不是我们的夜晚。真的没有办法，这不是我们的夜晚。”
随着公羊队试图阻止他们的下滑，Niners 将希望周一的胜利能够在两场胜利的强势开局之后重新点燃他们的赛季。
11 月 21 日与苦苦挣扎的杰克逊维尔美洲虎队 (2-7) 的比赛看起来是延续势头的理想时机，加洛波罗相信球队正在前进。
“这个联赛并不容易，每支球队都很好——我们要去那里（杰克逊维尔）准备好，”加洛波罗说。
