Stopping Goff early will be key for 49ers
Offense, led by quick-starting QB and former Marin Catholic standout, has compiled a league-best four opening-drive TDs
If all goes according to plan for the Rams, it won’t take much time for things to go wrong again for the 49ers on Sunday night.
Rams head coach and de facto offensive coordinator Sean McVay has been masterful while scheming ways to attack opponents right from the start. McVay’s offense has kept teams on their heels while setting the tone better than any team in the NFL — no team has scored as many opening-drive touchdowns as the Rams, who’ve done it four times already this season.
The fast starts have helped the Rams emerge as one of the surprise bounce-back teams in the league with a 4-1 record following
their latest victory, a 30-10 shellacking of Washington.
McVay devised another flawless first drive by setting up quarterback Jared Goff to do nothing but succeed early. Utilizing short drops and quick- hitting passes, McVay has spared Goff from more methodical pass plays that might force him to make plays on the move, not one of the former Cal star’s strengths.
So far, everything’s been nearly perfect for Goff, who has completed 20- of-21 passes during the Rams’ five opening drives this season. That’s 95.2 percent of his pass attempts for those who can’t find their calculator app.
Against Washington, Goff went 7 of 7 on Los Angeles’ first drive as the Rams went to a no-huddle offense featuring two receivers, two backs and two tight ends that confounded Washington. Darrell Henderson Jr.’s 1-yard run capped the 10play, 76-yard drive.
The quick-starting Rams have outscored their opponents 34-17 during the first quarter this season, which has gone a longway toward putting teams on the defensive right away.
In short, there won’t be any time for the 49ers to feel sorry for themselves Sunday night.
Three reasons for 49ers’ optimism
LOOK WHO THEY’VE PLAYED! » Before anyone tries squeezing onto the Rams bandwagon, consider that McVay’s team, while very talented, has been the beneficiaries of a pretty soft schedule so far. That’s what happens when it’s your division’s turn to play the NFC East. The Rams finished off a four-game sweep of the East by beating Washington on Sunday. Los Angeles wound up out scoring Washington, Dallas, Philadelphia and the New York Giants by a cumulative score of 10455. The combined record of the four teams the Rams beat is just 4-15-1. You won’t hear the 49ers casting aspersions on anyone else’s schedule, though. The combined record of the two teams the 49ers have beaten is 0-10. Plus, don’t forget the 49ers also have their shot against the NFC East this year — they lost to the Eagles and beat the Giants, so far.
A CHANCE TO RUNIT » Lost in the 49ers’ otherwise miserable showing against the Dolphins Sunday was the reemergence of their running attack. Raheem Mostert returned with a flurry, running 11 times for 90 yards, including a 37-yarder. In all, the 49ers ran it 19 times for 131 times (6.9 yards per carry). Of course, with San Francisco’s revolving- door defense allowing Miami to roll up 43 points, Kyle Shanahan didn’t have the luxury of keeping things on the ground. But, there are reasons to believe that could change this week. Never mind the Rams gave up just 38 yards rushing to Washington on 14 carries. That just masked L. A.’s overall issues this season against the run. Even with Sunday’s shutdown, the Rams are still just 23rd in the league against the run.
RAMS’ KICKING WOES » Only one of the past five 49ers-Rams games has been decided by less than 13 points, but if this becomes a tight one San Francisco will have a huge edge at kicker. Robbie Gould is still a trusted kicker for the 49ers, especially in the clutch, like when he booted the gamewinner with no time remaining against the Rams last season. On the other side, the Rams seem to have an escalating problem at kicker with the struggles of rookie Samuel Sloman. He’s missed two PATs as well as a couple of makeable field goal tries and his longest field goal is 35 yards. Sloman drew the ire of the Rams fan base on social media after pulling an extra point attempt wide left Sunday.
Three reasons for 49ers’ pessimism
A STOUT RAMS DEFENSE » Strength of schedule aside, the Rams are on quite a roll defensively these days. They’re coming off a complete annihilation of Washington as L. A.’s defense allowed a paltry 108 yards of total offense. They’re fourth in the league in yards allowed per game at 304.2. The Rams also sacked Washington quarterbacks eight times. The eight sacks were the most by the Rams since they took down the 49ers’ C. J. Beathard seven times in 2018. The Rams defense is now tied with the Steelers with an NFL-high 20 sacks through five games. In other words, look out.
ANOTHER OFFENSIVE WEAPON? » Gerald Everett just made life more difficult for NFL defensive coordinators.
As if defenses didn’t have enough to worry about while facing Goff’s arsenal of offensive weapons like receivers Cooper Kupp and Robert Woods, the three-man running back attack (Darrell Henderson Jr., Malcolm Brown and rookie Cam Akers) and tight end Tyler Higbee. Now McVay has schemed a way to feature a second tight end in Everett, who caught four passes for 90 yards, including a 40-yarder that set up Goff’s 2-yard TD run in the first half. McVay and Goff sent Washington’s defense scrambling by employing two tight- end sets on the opening drive as Everett grabbed passes for 17 and 23 yards.
NFL’S TOP-RATED CORNERBACKS » It cost the Rams two first-round picks and a fourth-round pick to acquire Jalen Ramsey from the Jaguars last year. Darious Williams cost the Rams essentially nothing when he was claimed off waivers from the Ravens two years ago. Together, the Rams starting cornerbacks form the NFL’s top-rated duo, as per Pro Football Focus, which has the duo’s Expected Points Added (EPA) at just - 0.15 per pass allowed.