10 takeaways from Rams ugly win against the 49ers in primetime

Rams ride Kyren Willams and defense to win over the 49ers

The Los Angeles Rams experienced the definition of winning ugly on Thursday Night Football, defeating the 49ers without scoring a touchdown. It may not have been the 44-42 barn-burner the week before, but the Rams will take wins as they come, even if the score is only 12-6. While the offense showed up in a big way last week, on Thursday night it was the defense. Let’s get into this week’s 10 takeaways.

1. The Rams offense was back and not in a good way

Throughout this season, the Rams offense has been consistently inconsistent. However, following the win over the Bills in which the offense scored 44 points, it was thought that the offense had finally found its stride. A step back was always going to happen. With that said, the Rams only scored 12, went 0-for-2 in the red zone, and went three-and-out on each of their first four possessions.

The weather certainly played a role as well as the short week, but slow starts have been a norm this season. Last week’s performance against the Bills has been more of the exception than the rule. Thursday night was the second time in three weeks that the Rams have gone without a touchdown in the first half. If the Rams are going to be a serious contender, they have to be able to start games with more urgency.

2. Defense stepped up with the offense struggling

While the offense started slow, the defense deserves a big shoutout for locking down and playing their best game of the year. After allowing six touchdowns just a few days earlier, not many would have expected them to give up just six points the next week. The 49ers had just 191 total yards of offense and went 3-for-12 on third down. They allowed just 63 rushing yards on 19 carries.

For the Rams to stay in this game, especially in the first half, the defense needed to step up to the plate and that’s exactly what they did. This is a defense that has continued to grow throughout the year. The 49ers had their best offensive performance against the Bears and the Rams completely shut them down.

3. Kobie Turner showed up in a big way

A big reason for the defensive performance was Kobie Turner. Turner had two sacks and five pressures. As Doug Farrar of Athlon Sports noted,

“Turner had two sacks and five total pressures in the game, and they were all crucial. Both of his sacks and two of his three pressures came on third-and-6 or longer, and ended 49ers drives.”

The interior pressure from the Rams defensive line and containment from the edges, closed Brock Purdy in the pocket. Purdy was held to one rushing attempt for three yards which was his lowest rushing output of the season. The Rams defense needed somebody on the defensive line to step up and that player was Turner.

4. Sean McVay shows commitment to run game

Last week, a Sean McVay-called offense ran the ball 40 or more times for just the third time. Little did we know that four days later the Rams would run the ball more than they would throw it. Kyren Williams had 29 rushing attempts to Matthew Stafford’s 27 passing attempts. Williams had over 100 yards, but only averaged 3.7 yards per carry. The Rams were having to work hard in the run game with Williams’ longest run of the night being just 10 yards.

However, with Stafford off and throwing the ball not working, McVay showed a commitment to the run game. On the first scoring drive, the Rams ran the ball five times while Stafford attempted one pass. The Rams went on a 17-play field goal drive later on that had eight runs and eight passes. Williams was the Rams offense on Thursday night and McVay adjusted accordingly.

5. Matthew Stafford ‘off’, but made throws when needed

There is no doubt that Stafford was off against the 49ers after playing a near perfect game the week before. Stafford was only credited with two turnover-worthy plays, but there were four passes that could have been intercepted.

After starting 2-for-10 in the first half, Stafford finished 14-for-17. The Rams starting quarterback hit Puka Nacua 51-yards down the field to set up a field goal and then found Colby Parkinson on 3rd-and-4 late that essentially ended the game. What was most impressive about the completion to Parkinson was the play coming out of empty with no threat to run the ball. The Rams asked Stafford to win it and that’s exactly what he did.

6. Short-handed secondary made key plays

The Rams secondary entered the game short-handed with Cobie Durant out of the game with a lung contusion. That means that Ahkello Witherspoon who has not played often or well would start in his place across from Darious Williams.

Witherspoon allowed a few catches on third down, but had some key pass breakups as well. Entering the game, the Rams ranked 30th in EPA on passes of 20 yards or more down the field. Purdy took plenty of shots, but was 1-for-8 on throws of 20 yards or more and had an interception. The Rams secondary came up big most of the night, playing sticky coverage on the 49ers wide receivers.

7. It was the right call not to give up on Josh Karty

When rookie kicker Josh Karty went through his slump in the middle of the season, there were many that wanted to cut him and move on to somebody else. However, the Rams stuck through the process and adjusted accordingly with the decision-making process. Thursday night’s game is why the Rams stuck with Karty and why they made the right decision to continue believing in him.

There were always going to be some inconsistencies with a rookie kicker. Some of his misses haven’t necessarily always been entirely his fault. This was the second time this season when Karty had all of the Rams’ offensive points, but this time those kicks came in a big spot. Karty was 4-for-4 and his most impressive make came from 48-yards in the rain at the end of the first half. The Rams do not sweep the 49ers without Karty this season. He made the game-winner back in Week 3 and then was responsible for all 12 of the Rams points. Hopefully this is a confidence boost moving forward.

8. McVay’s in-game decision making has improved significantly

McVay’s coaching in-game has been much better this year than it has in the past. He’s leaned into going for it on fourth down and there haven’t been as many unnecessary timeouts.

While McVay has taken a more analytical approach this season, he still shows that he has a good ‘feel’ for the game. When McVay decided to ‘kick’ with a minute to go in the first half, it was a +3.1% ‘go’ decision via RBSDM and +2% decision to ‘go’ via ESPN Analytics. In a game where points were at a premium, McVay kicked and was rewarded. The Rams likely end up just kicking a field goal anyway even if they had converted.

On 4th-and-4 from the five with the game tied, 6-6, it was another ‘go’ decision via the analytics. McVay decided to kick. McVay took his chances as well, going for it on fourth down at the 37. This game was a great example of McVay balancing ‘in-game feel’ with ‘analytics’. The conversation around analytics tends to be very black and white when there is some grey area. Overall, McVay has improved his in-game process.

9. Rams show that they can win in multiple ways

The Rams have won seven of their last nine games. However, it’s not just that they are winning, but how they are finding ways to win. The Rams went from beating one of the NFL’s best in a 44-42 shootout to winning 12-6 in a messy division game on the road. For the Rams to win both of those very different style games shows how well-rounded of a team they are this late in the season. It was the first time that the Rams have won without a touchdown in the McVay era and first time since Week 17 of 2020 that they have won without an offensive touchdown.

All seven of the Rams wins this season have come in one-score games. This young Rams team started 1-3 in one-score games and have since gone 6-1. They are learning how to win and doing so in very different ways is what makes this 7-2 run so impressive.

10. This team has once again found itself in December

Since joining the Rams in 2021, Stafford is 12-1 in the month of December. The Rams have played their best football in the month of December which is exactly what you want as the games get more important. The Rams have won three in a row and have set themselves up nicely to make the playoffs. They now have a 50 percent chance of making the postseason for a second year in a row.

This team is far from perfect. However, they are starting to find their identity and who they want to be as a team. As mentioned after the Bills win, this is a team that nobody wants to face in the playoffs. There are three games left to play and the Rams are once again playing important football games when it matters. They’ll have 10 days off before a road trip to the east coast to play the Jets. The Rams then wrap up with back-to-back division games at home.