Â鶹¹ú²ú

FULL BOX SCORE

• REWATCH: Rams-49ers on Â鶹¹ú²ú
• READ: Niners fall to NFC's 11th seed
• READ: Shanahan says LB Campbell refused to play vs. Rams
• READ: Williams on Rams sweeping 49ers: 'We're the big brothers'
• READ: Deebo on drop: 'I make that play, we win the game'

1. Rams earned ugly, rain-soaked -- but crucial -- win. The cardiac Rams had to sweat out an ugly-but-significant victory to keep their playoff chances in good standing, bludgeoning the 49ers with the run game when poor conditions hindered both teams’ passing attacks. If you like rain-soaked, field-goal battles, this one was just for you. The rain fell with increasing strength in the first half, and the offenses melted away with it. The Rams punted five straight times. Cooper Kupp had zero catches in a game for only the third time in his career. Things picked up slightly in the second half, but we finished with the first touchdown-less game of the 2024 NFL season. Joshua Karty's fourth field goal of the night with 20 seconds left spared this one from being the season’s lowest-scoring game. There was even a late hold-your-breath moment when the Rams committed an unforgivable horse-collar penalty on the ensuing kickoff, giving the 49ers a puncher’s chance to win it, but the Rams held on. In doing so, they received a huge bump in their playoff odds, echoing last year’s miracle run, and they now get nine days off. That’s now seven of their eight victories by a single score. They’ve earned it.
2. 49ers couldn’t draft off Sunday’s performance. Last week, the Niners played as well as they have all season -- especially in the first half -- in a 38-13 obliteration of the Bears. That showing served as a what-might-have-been reminder about the talent on this team. Four days later -- with several injured players returning to the lineup -- the Niners fell flat. The defense gave them a chance, keeping the Rams completely in check in the first half and blanking them (0-for-3) in the red zone. The returns of Dre Greenlaw, playing his first game since last season's Super Bowl loss, and Nick Bosa really lifted the unit. But Brock Purdy and the passing game struggled mightily in the rain early, and the quarterback only completed eight of his 21 passes for 80 yards with two sacks and a pick after the first quarter. The overthrow interception in the end zone was a back breaker, as the Niners trailed by three points with just over five minutes left when the ill-fated pass was made. The Rams milked the clock, and that was that. And even though it largely felt academic before Thursday, that just about did it for the 49ers’ playoff chances this season. A frustrating but fitting end to an injury-marred season.
3. Williams fueled the Rams' stalled offense. Things were ugly early for the Rams. They went backward on their first possession of the night. Matthew Stafford started the game with two of his first four passes nearly getting picked, and he was 4-for-12 passing for 24 yards at the half. He got hot in the fourth quarter, and Puka Nacua gave the Los Angeles a few lifts with big plays. But when the Rams absolutely needed to move the ball and control the clock, the ball was going into Kyren Williams’ hands. Twice he ran the ball four straight plays, and one time Williams handled the ball on five straight. He also was a horse in pass protection, with a key blitz pickup in the second half. Williams finished with 108 yards on 28 carries, none of them longer than 10 yards, but 10 of his carries went for five yards or more. Let’s give Karty his props for a 4-for-4 kicking night, and punter Ethan Evans was huge, too. But without Williams, the L.A.'s offense might have been stuck in neutral all night.
4. Deebo’s downturn continued with another tough night. Some of the offensive struggles can be blamed on the wet field -- it clearly affected both teams -- but the 49ers still were unable to unlock Deebo Samuel amid one of his worst slumps. Samuel voiced frustration about his role in the offense, and there seemed to be a concerted effort to abruptly get him the ball, with four touches in the first 10 plays. But little worked, with a third-down false start in the first half and a wicked drop midway through the third quarter on third-and-10 which would have gone for a first down -- and could have produced a touchdown. Samuel finished with three catches for 16 yards (on seven targets) and two runs for 3 yards. That’s now five straight games for him with 35 scrimmage yards or fewer. Even taking the weather into account, there’s something wrong here. With Christian McCaffrey and Brandon Aiyuk out, the 49ers need Samuel to produce.
5. Rams' defense comes up big. Lest we finish without giving a nod to Los Angeles' defense, which only allowed San Francisco to cross midfield three times on Thursday, giving up a total of six points. On the third possession in Rams territory, as the 49ers were attempting to take the lead in a 9-6 game with just over five minutes left, Darious Williams made the play of the game. He was not fooled on Jauan Jennings' double move, reading Purdy’s throw perfectly and intercepting the deep ball in the end zone. The Rams marched on the game-sealing drive thereafter. But, just for good measure, after the late kickoff snafu, Christian Rozeboom sacked Brock Purdy to end it. The Rams supplied good pressure all night, preventing Purdy from getting comfortable in the pocket or generating any big downfield completions. Kobie Turner had the Rams’ other two sacks, along with five pressures. Byron Young made some big stops. Williams and Ahkello Witherspoon were great in coverage. The weather might have helped, but the Rams’ D stepped up.

Next Gen Stats insight for (via NFL Pro): Puka Nacua caught seven of eight targets for 97 yards, going in motion on 48 percent of his snaps (24 times), the second-highest rate of his career. Nacua now has 443 scrimmage yards on plays in motion this season, most in the NFL and the third-most by any player since 2018.

NFL Research: The 49ers’ six points were the second-fewest in the Kyle Shanahan era, trailing only the three points they scored against the Panthers in Week 1, 2017 -- Shanahan’s first game as head coach.