Game review

OFFENSE

No first-string tackles? No problem. With backups Justin Skule and Daniel Brunskill at tackle, QB Jimmy Garoppolo took just two sacks and five hits against a potent defensive line. The run game without fullback Kyle Juszczyk wasn’t overly impressive (41 carries, 99 yards, 2 TDs), but managed to sustain drives. The offense converted 8 of 17 third downs (and its only fourth-down try) and held the ball for nearly 39 minutes. Garoppolo had two turnovers, and his interception on 3rd-and-goal from the 1 was a headscratcher. TE George Kittle (103 yards) nearly carried Rams defenders to Burbank on his 45-yard catch-and-run.

DEFENSE

The Steel Curtain. The Doomsday Defense. The 1985 Bears. The 2019 49ers? That’s obviously premature, but — wow — what a performance against an elite offense that played in the Super Bowl eight months ago. After their first-possession TD drive, the Rams did nothing. Six first downs, 101 yards, no points and no third-down conversions in the final 54 minutes. Jared Goff (78 passing yards) was reduced to an ineffective dinker-and dunker, averaging 3.3 yards per attempt, taking four sacks and dealing with plenty more pressures.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Robbie Gould can be excused for missing a 55-yard attempt before halftime, but he appeared to chunk the attempt and it ended up woefully short (he did make kicks of 25 and 34 yards). This unit was fortunate a punt that bounced off D.J. Reed and was recovered by the Rams was negated by an illegal-motion penalty. Rookie punter Mitch Wishnowsky was just OK (37.8 net-yard average). Richie James had a nice 18-yard return on his only kickoff runback.

COACHING

Talk about an effective coaching adjustment: Defensive coordinator Robert Saleh obviously fixed the run-defense woes after the Rams’ opening drive. The 49ers played man-to-man in the secondary on third downs, and that seemed to work just fine — L.A. was 0-for-9 on third down. With three starters sidelined, Kyle Shanahan removed some bells and whistles from his game plan, and the 49ers were functional.

OVERALL

Well, the 49ers really haven’t played a decent opponent and … blah, blah, blah. The talk about their soft early schedule will vanish after they manhandled the well-rested NFC champions on the road on a short week. Apologies for jinxing them like this, but it’s hard to see a loss on the upcoming schedule (at Washington, vs. Carolina, at Arizona).