Matthew Stafford and the Los Angeles Rams pulled off the perfect comeback on Sunday afternoon.
After Brock Purdy and the San Francisco 49ers led most of the way, thanks to a career day from wide receiver Jauan Jennings, the Rams put up 13 straight points to close out the game and pull off the 27-24 win at SoFi Stadium.
That gave the Rams their first win of the season and dropped the 49ers — who were without stars Christian McCaffrey, Deebo Samuel and George Kittle due to various injuries — to 1-2 on the year.
Stafford, after falling into a 21-7 hole just after halftime, slowly chipped away at the San Francisco lead in the second half. Running back Kyren Williams capped a quick drive late in the third quarter with a 3-yard touchdown run, which marked his second of the day after a 15-yard catch in the second quarter.
Then, after both teams traded field goals early in the fourth quarter, Stafford mounted a quick touchdown drive that lasted less than a minute to suddenly tie the game up for the first time since the opening minutes. He found wide receiver Tutu Atwell deep for 50 yards up the sidelines to move them inside the 5-yard line and eventually set up another Williams touchdown.
The Rams then forced a quick punt to get the ball back, and Stafford opened the drive by drawing a pass interference call to immediately move them into field goal position. That led to the eventual game-winning 37-yard field goal from Joshua Karty.
McCaffrey has yet to play this season for San Francisco while dealing with a calf injury and Achilles tendinitis. He was placed on injured reserve and will miss at least two more games. Kittle was ruled out of the game with a hamstring injury on Saturday, and Samuel was ruled out with a calf injury.
While the latter two injuries don’t appear to be as serious as McCaffrey’s, it led to a rare moment for the 49ers. They haven’t played a game without McCaffrey, Kittle and Samuel all at the same time in their last 30 regular season games dating back to the moment the team acquired McCaffrey from the Carolina Panthers during the 2022 campaign. It was also their first game without both Kittle and Samuel since a loss to the Dallas Cowboys in 2020.
This post will be updated with more information shortly.
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