49ers’ beat Los Angeles Rams, 24-16,

Receiver Deebo Samuel grabbed the shovel pass from Jimmy Garoppolo behind the line of scrimmage on a thirdand-7 play at the 49ers' 38-yard line, took a couple of strides and turned up field.

Samuel then bounced off a hit from Los Angeles Rams cornerback Darious Williams, kept his feet moving and wound up with an 11-yard gain.

“I'm not going to lie. I'm was kind of hurting a little bit,” Samuel said of the hit he took. “But I'll do what it takes for this team.”

There were a handful of key moments in the 49ers' 24-16 victory over the Los Angeles Rams at Levi's Stadium on Sunday. Few were as big as Samuel's first down run with 1:40 left in the fourth quarter, which allowed San Francisco to run out the clock on their most critical win to date this year.

“That last run that Deebo had was as impressive a run as I've ever seen,” 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said. “We blocked it for about seven yards and then three guys just tried to bring it on Deebo. He just stayed up and finished the playing got three more, and allowed us to go out there and take a knee. So, very impressive.”

“It was great just to be able to get the win knowing (the Rams) didn't have any time outs,” Samuel said. “In the huddle, Jimmy was like, `we need you to make a play right here and don't go out of bounds.'

“I never go out of bounds. So I (said), `Jimmy I got you.' I just went out there and executed.”

Shanahan and the 49ers found success on that shovel pass play on two other occasions Sunday on their opening drive.

On a second-and-5 play at their own 29, Samuel looked like he was going to be stopped for a 4 or 5-yard gain after he ran into a host of Rams defenders. Samuel, though, kept his feet and darted up the sideline for a 35-yard gain.

Later on the Rams' 6-yard line, Samuel took the ball from Garoppolo, ran to the right side of the field and cut to the outside, finding the corner of the end zone for a 6-0 San Francisco lead with 11:39 left in the first quarter.

“It's a different type of play, but it's all around the NFL now,” Garoppolo said. “Deebo, I think he's the best in the league at it.

The guy, he runs like a running back and has moves like a receiver. It's unique what he can do with the ball in his hands.”

“It's just the physicality that I bring to the team,” Samuel said, “and just the mindset that I have not allowing one guy to bring me down.”

Samuel, who was placed on injured reserve at the start of the season with a foot injury, finished with a season-high six catches for 66 yards. Samuel also had to miss practice time last with a non-coronavirus related illness, so this week marked the first time he's been able to be a full participant in every practice.

“For sure it was great to get a good week of practice,” Samuel said. “Just getting extra conditioning and trying to get most of my wind back, and kind of showed today.”

With Samuel now healthy, the 49ers need more of what they saw from him Sunday.

San Francisco had the NFL'S 20th-ranked passing attack entering the game with the Rams, and Garoppolo completed 23 of 33 passes for 268 yards and three first half touchdowns. Samuel last season had 57 catches for 802 yards and three touchdowns.

“When you have a guy who can take it upon himself to get those extra yards to win the game, great players make great plays when your number is called,” said 49ers tight end George Kittle, who had seven catches for 109 yards and a touchdown.

“Deebo is finally finding his stride and I'm excited to see where he goes from here.”