INGLEWOOD, Calif. – The Rams (3-4, 1-2 NFC West) fell to the 49ers 31-14 on Sunday at SoFi Stadium.
While Los Angeles managed to grab a 14-7 lead midway through the second quarter, they were unable to maintain it as San Francisco (4-4, 3-0) pulled away by scoring 24 unanswered points the rest of the way.
Running Christian McCaffrey was responsible for three of the 49ers' of the four' touchdowns Sunday afternoon, recording one passing, one rushing and one receiving; the rushing and receiving touchdowns both came in the second half. McCaffrey finished with 183 total yards overall in addition to those two scores; 94 rushing on 18 carries plus 55 receiving on eight catches in addition to the 34-yard touchdown pass.
Quarterback Matthew Stafford completed 22 of 33 pass attempts for 187 yards and one touchdown in the loss; wide receiver Cooper Kupp was on the other end of Stafford's lone passing touchdown and finished with eight catches for 79 yards overall. Defensively, outside linebacker Leonard Floyd recorded his first sack of the season and finished with two overall.
Here is the complete game recap, presented by Toyota:
After the two teams traded punts, the Rams were on the doorstep of scoring on their second possession, and managed to punch it in on a one-yard run by Stafford for a 7-0 lead with nine seconds left in the first quarter. The drive erased 9 minutes and 21 seconds off the clock.
However, the 49ers responded with a 34-yard touchdown pass from running back Christian McCaffrey to wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk on a trick to tie the game 7-7 early in the second quarter.
The Rams answered in turn with a 15-yard touchdown pass from Stafford to Kupp on the ensuing drive to regain the lead 14-7 with 6:35 left in the first half. The 49ers reached the Rams 8-yard line on the ensuing drive, but Floyd's second-down sack of Garoppolo for a 4-yard loss, followed by a third-down pass breakup by Rams linebacker Bobby Wagner, forced the 49ers to settle for a 29-yard field goal by kicker Robbie Gould, making it 14-10 at halftime.
Although the 49ers opened the second half with a 25-yard run by McCaffrey to quickly reach midfield, Rams defensive lineman Greg Gaines' third-down sack forced the 49ers to punt.
San Francisco regained the lead 17-14 on a 9-yard touchdown pass from Garoppolo to McCaffrey with 1:51 remaining in the third quarter, a scoring drive that took nearly seven minutes off the clock.
Los Angeles was unable to respond after a third-down sack of Stafford forced them to punt. On the ensuing possession, San Francisco used an 11-yard punt return to get to its 42-yard line, then reached the L.A. 36 following an unnecessary roughness penalty against linebacker Ernest Jones at the end of a 7-yard run by McCaffrey. Five players later, McCaffrey punched it in from 1 yard out to expand the 49ers' lead to 24-14 early in the fourth quarter.
Facing a 3rd and 3 from their own 28, an incomplete pass from Stafford to tight end Tyler Higbee forced the Rams to punt; had Higbee caught it, he would've had plenty of field in front of him for the first down and potentially a touchdown.
A 7-yard touchdown pass from Garoppolo to tight end George Kittle made it 31-14 with 6:41 remaining.
