INGLEWOOD, Calif. – With the San Francisco 49ers M*A*S*H unit staying busy and missing several frontline starters due to injury, who could blame NFL oddsmakers for making them heavy 8.5-point underdogs on the road against the NFC West rivals, the Los Angeles Rams?
However, that didn’t sit well with 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan, who voiced his displeasure to his backup quarterback Mac Jones, starting in place of an injured Brock Purdy.
“Kyle came up to me and he was pissed about it,” Jones said, laughing. “He’s like, ‘Dude, I can’t believe they moved us to underdogs again. … And I’m like, ‘I don’t know what that means really, but yeah, let’s go kill them.’
“He was pissed about it. I was like, ‘Yeah, I’m pissed too.’”
Shanahan and Jones used the extra motivation to create some energy early, jumping out to a 13-point lead. Then, San Francisco held off a furious Rams rally to take home a thrilling, 26-23 overtime victory.
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Jones was the catalyst for the 49ers, completing 33-of-49 passes for 342 yards, with two touchdowns and no interceptions for a 100.9 passer rating. His former teammates with the New England Patriots, nifty receiver Kendrick Bourne, was the favorite target for Jones, finishing with a team-high 10 receptions for 142 yards on 11 targets.
San Francisco kicker Eddy Pineiro drilled the game-winner, a 41-yard field goal in overtime. Pineiro finished 4-of-4 on field goals, including a career-long 59-yarder. Since taking over for an ineffective Jake Moody, Piñeiro is 11-for-11 on field goals for San Francisco.
San Francisco went into the game woefully shorthanded, with quarterback Brock Purdy (toe), tight end George Kittle (hamstring), receiver Ricky Pearsall (knee), starting left guard left guard Ben Bartch (ankle), receiver Brandon Aiyuk (knee), defensive end Nick Bosa (knee) and receiver Jauan Jennings (ankle, ribs) all unavailable.
“It’s huge,” Shanahan said about the win. “You don’t make excuses with injuries, but we’ve had to have a lot of guys step up that we weren’t sure we would need to coming into the year.”
Jones is 3-0 now as a starter for San Francisco this season. It marked his sixth career game with 300 or more passing yards and his first since he had 316 against the Eagles in September 2023, when he was still with the Patriots.
Shanahan said Purdy re-injured his toe in last week’s loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars and is considered week-to-week. San Francisco now has some extra time to see if Purdy can get ready for Week 6’s road game in Tampa Bay.
For now, the 49ers are happy to ride with Jones until Purdy is fully healthy.
“They brought me here to play as a backup and that’s my job,” Jones said. “Brock’s the starter of this team and right now, he’s dealing with something. For him to go out there last week and play when he probably wasn’t at full health, (that shows) he cares about this team.
“I’m just trying to get some wins for him, so it helps us down the line. At the end of the day, that’s what it’s all about.”
Mac Jones was probably not 100% after the 49ers’ win over the Rams, but he got the job done. (Brooke Sutton/Getty Images)
Jones was the latest example of Shanahan’s quarterback-friendly offense revitalizing a quarterback who had struggled at other stops. Like Sam Darnold a few years ago, Jones is on his way to being another reclamation project for Shanahan.
Even more impressive, Jones played through an injury to his left knee and a right forearm issue that required attention during the game.
“He played his ass off, man,” Shanahan said. “He was unbelievable in the first half. He got banged up a little bit there in the second half and battled through it and protected the ball.
“Going against that defense and throwing the ball that many times and not having a turnover and protecting it like he did, I can’t say enough good things about Mac.”
The Rams had a chance to change the outcome in extra time. But on fourth-and-1 from San Francisco’s 11-yard line, Los Angeles head coach Sean McVay decided to go for it, rather than kick a game-tying field goal. And after both the Rams and 49ers took timeouts, Kyren Williams was stuffed for no gain.
“The play selection was very poor,” McVay said. “I’m sick right now because I put our players in a s****y spot. But I’ve got to live with that.”
McVay’s Rams also had to overcome two fumbles by Blake Corum and Williams, another blocked kick on an extra point – L.A.’s third blocked kick this season – and a 53-yarder missed wide right by kicker Joshua Karty.
With the win, the 49ers grabbed the lead atop the division at 4-1 overall, including a 3-0 record in the NFC West – the third time since 2002 San Francisco has started that way within the division.
The Rams dropped to 3-2 on the year with the loss.
The 49ers stopped Kyren Williams on fourth down in overtime and improved to 4-1. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
The Rams appeared on their way to winning the game in regulation. Trailing 23-20 with just over a minute left, on first and goal from San Francisco’s 3-yard line, running back Kyren Williams appeared ready to score. But Williams fumbled at the goal line when San Francisco defensive tackle Alfred Williams punched the ball out. Collins also recovered the fumble.
“It was a must-have play,” Williams said. “If I didn’t do that, they would have scored.”
Williams was one of a handful of unheralded young players who stepped up in defensive coordinator Robert Saleh’s group to thwart one of the most talented offenses in the league. Cornerback Chase Lucas created the dog pile at the line of scrimmage on fourth down in overtime that stopped Williams and ended the game.
Eric D. Williams has reported on the NFL for more than a decade, covering the Los Angeles Rams for Sports Illustrated, the Los Angeles Chargers for ESPN and the Seattle Seahawks for the Tacoma News Tribune. Follow him on X at @eric_d_williams.
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