The San Francisco 49ers seemed headed for certain defeat when they took the field on Thursday against the Los Angeles Rams seriously short-handed. Without starting quarterback Brock Purdy, tight end George Kittle, defensive end Nick Bosa and wide receivers Ricky Pearsall, Jauan Jennings and Brandon Aiyuk they had no chance against a young, talented and deep Rams squad at SoFi Stadium.
Instead, San Francisco got out to a 14-0 lead as its defense led the way. While the Rams made this a tight contest down the stretch, they made a couple of miscues late, while San Francisco maintained its poise and made enough plays to come out with a 26-23 win.
While Niners coach Kyle Shanahan wasn’t perfect with his play-calling, especially on offense, he did an excellent job of guiding his team to victory against its longtime NFC West rivals, according to former Niners cornerback Richard Sherman.
"This was a Coach of the Year signature performance for Kyle Shanahan and you got to treat it that way… It gets to a point that you see how depleted this team is, but you get to understand and appreciate Kyle Shanahan's brilliance in his play calling, his coaching, because I think sometimes you lose sight of that. And you don't appreciate what he's been able to do over these 9 years in San Francisco. But games like this where it looks like there's no way in hell this team wins this game, and they do. Then you get the respect and appreciation for him, Robert Saleh, this young draft class - they have to depend so heavily on young guys. But they’re well-coached and they’re getting it done week in and week out."
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For several years, there has been a narrative that Shanahan’s teams snatch defeat out of the jaws of victory in big games, especially during the playoffs. Since becoming the Niners’ head coach in 2017, they have lost twice in the Super Bowl after holding double-digit leads in the second half, and they also blew a 10-point second-half lead in the 2021 NFC Championship Game versus L.A.
But even though they blew that 14-point first-half lead on Thursday, they found a way to recover and win. While the 49ers couldn’t get into the red zone for most of the second half, their defense came through for them.
Leading 23-20 and in danger of falling behind when the Rams had the football on the San Francisco three-yard line late in the fourth quarter, rookie defensive lineman Alfred Collins knocked the ball out of the hands of Rams running back Kyren Williams just before he got to the goal line.
Collins recovered possession, and while San Francisco couldn’t score on its ensuing offensive series, it prevented a touchdown and ate up some of the clock, forcing Los Angeles to settle for a game-tying field goal in the final seconds of regulation.
In overtime, L.A. faced a fourth-and-one on the 49ers’ 11-yard line, and L.A. Sean McVay made the ballsy decision to leave his offense on the field. Once again, Williams couldn’t gain that last piece of real estate, as the Niners’ secondary stuffed him to end the game.
Even some Niners fans have their doubts about Shanahan as far as being a championship coach. But he surely must’ve earned some trust points on Thursday, as his team now holds sole possession of first place in the NFC West.
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