INGLEWOOD, Calif. – The Rams' first win of the season was summed up adequately by head coach Sean McVay as he settled behind the podium for the postgame press conference – "holy sh*t."
The Rams trailed almost the entire game, as the division rival 49ers scored touchdowns on each of their first two drives. The Rams fought back behind a rampaging running back in Kyren Williams (three touchdowns and 116 total yards) as quarterback Matthew Stafford showed off his clutch gene. He tied Drew Brees for the fifth-most 4th quarter comebacks in NFL history with his 36th.
Here are five interesting stats from Los Angeles' 27-24 victory over San Francisco in the home opener:
The Rams' win probability was as low as 3.2% with 4:14 left in the game
The Rams only held a lead for two seconds – the last two. Before that, Los Angeles was down 10 entering the fourth quarter, and then trailed by seven with 4:14 remaining in the game, when the 49ers had possession. The Rams got the ball back after a missed field goal and marched down the field for a touchdown in just three plays, highlighted by a 50-yard bomb from Stafford to wide receiver Tutu Atwell.
The Rams didn't have a win probability above 50% until inside the two-minute warning.
Atwell's 50-yard catch in the 4th quarter added 17.5% to the Rams' win probability, the fourth-most WPA of any play this week and second-most for a non-touchdown (pre-Monday Night Football)
Atwell's "crucial catch," as Stafford called it, was the 10th-most improbable completion of the week. It had an expected completion percentage of 33.6%, according to NFLverse data, and set the Rams up for the game-tying touchdown. Atwell finished the game with four catches for 93 yards (the second most of his career), leading the Rams in both categories.
McVay said that performance made him realize that Atwell "probably should have gotten other opportunities." He and Stafford both praised his ability to step into an expanded role to make plays at all three levels.
The Rams pressured Brock Purdy on 47.4% of his dropbacks, the seventh-highest rate in a single game this season
The Rams blitzed 15.8% of the time, which was the 16th-lowest rate of the season. Only one team that blitzed at a lower rate has generated as much pressure as the Rams did on Sunday. That's thanks to strong showings from the outside linebackers Byron Young and Jared Verse, as well as interior defensive linemen Braden Fiske and Kobie Turner. All four of them generated at least three pressures on Sunday.
Fiske created a whopping six pressures on the day (a career high), and added a fumble recovery for good measure. Meanwhile, Turner tallied four pressures, while Young and Verse each got three. It was a complete performance from the entire defensive line, something the Rams hadn't yet had this season. That led to another first for the 2024 Rams – a win.
Only two skill players scored in this game – Jauan Jennings and Williams – and they each scored three touchdowns
Both teams scoring three touchdowns from one player, and no one else, is such an unimaginable feat that I couldn't even find the last time it happened, or if it's ever happened.
Jennings caught 11 balls for 175 yards and three touchdowns, while Williams tallied 116 total yards and three scores of his own. Nobody else from either team scored all game. Jennings became the first 49ers player with three receiving touchdowns in a game since Terrell Owens in 2001. Meanwhile, Williams became the first Rams player to score a rushing touchdown in six-straight regular season games since Marshall Faulk, also in 2001.
It was a game full of improbably-mirrored accomplishments for those two players.
Byron Young got to the quarterback in 2.7 seconds on his strip sack, the eighth-fastest sack of the season thus far
At the end of the second quarter, Young came flying off the left edge, swiping with both hands past left tackle Colton McKivitz. As Purdy's arm reached back to throw, Young knocked the ball loose, and Fiske came up with his second fumble recovery in as many games.
The Rams weren't able to turn it into points, but it stopped the 49ers from piling on, as they were up 14-7 at the time. Young's strip sack was the Rams' only one of the game, and it couldn't have come at a better time.
