49ers proved they are fighters
Positive defensive performance, show of championship-level toughness gives hope
By any means necessary, the 49ers had to win on Sunday.
A loss to the Rams would have effectively torpedoed the team’s playoff chances. We’re barely halfway through October. That would not have been an acceptable outcome for the defending NFC Champions.
And with the season on the line, San Francisco dug deep and re- established their identity against the Rams in a 24-16 win
More importantly, the Niners treated the Week 6 contest like a playoff game, because the stakes seemed just as high.
Now, they don’t have the players they had last year. And every other team in the league has a better read on what it is the 49ers want to do, too. But the Niners went back to the beginning of this calendar year — before the world was turned upside down, before the empty stadiums, before all the injuries — and busted out the same
script they used to win two playoff games last January.
In the end, they were tougher, smarter, and more resilient than the Rams on Sunday.
That’s a serious building block for the rest of this strange campaign.
Coaches and players love to say that they “left it all on the field” after games. Given the horrors of the sport of football, it’s uncouth to point out the hyperbole and acknowledge that there are levels to
effort in this game.
In the playoffs, for instance, you see players driving to pick up an extra half yard, defenses swarming even when a sixth tackler would be overkill, and coaches using plays they save only for special occasions.
The Niners did all of those things on Sunday. It was a kitchen-sink performance.
I don’t know if the Niners have a deluxe kitchen or a Home Depot gift card, but if that’s what it takes to win, they’re going to need more sinks in the final 10 games.
But that’s a problem for the future Niners to address.
Now, let’s talk about that winning formula — that return to the 49ers’ identity.
The Niners want to run the ball and play great de
fense. For the first time against a competent NFL teamthis season, the Niners did that.
All while Shanahan, the offensive coordinator, called far and away his best game of the season.
First with Raheem Mostert and then with rookie JaMychal Hasty after Mostert injured his ankle, the Niners ran the ball with
purpose Sunday. They also ran the ball with wide receivers on end-arounds and screen passes, spreading out the Rams’ defense. The offensive line — a unit that prefers run blocking to pass protecting and was in desperate need of a confidence boost — thrived.
The gameplanwas hardly dominant. It wasn’t pretty, either. But it gave the 49ers
their best chance to win, as it limited quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo’s responsibilities.
Shanahanmade sure that Garoppolo had quick, short throws all night. Most of his box-score stats were, for all intents and purposes, shovel-pass runs by running backs or yards after the catch schemed up by Shanahan.
He hid him.
It’s awinning formula for the Niners if the rest of the roster plays well.
Is an offensive game plan that tries to hide the quarterback sustainable for the rest of the season?
Probably not. It wasn’t even that successful Sunday — the Niners only scored 24 points.
But it is, most likely, the Niners’ best path to victory from here on out.
And while that raises serious questions about the future of this team, those conversations can be put on hold — this Niners’ campaign is still in full swing.