RAMS 41, 49ERS 39
SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Jared Goff threw for 292 yards and 3 touchdowns and Todd Gurley ran for two touchdowns and caught another to help the Los Angeles Rams (2-1) put up another big offensive performance with a 41-39 victory over the San Francisco 49ers on Thursday night.
The NFL's lowest-scoring team last year looks vastly different under first-year Coach Sean McVay thanks to vastly improved play by Goff after a rough rookie season as the No. 1 overall pick.
The Rams also have been helped by the additions of receivers Sammy Watkins and Robert Woods and the play-calling of McVay as they have scored 107 points through three games.
The victory didn't come easy as the Rams nearly blew a 15-point lead, giving up two late touchdowns, fumbling a kickoff return and failing to recover an onside kick. But Los Angeles managed to stop a potential game-tying two-point conversion and then used an offensive pass interference penalty against Trent Taylor and a fourth-down sack by Aaron Donald to stop the 49ers after the onside kick.
The 49ers (0-3) scored five touchdowns after failing to get any the first two weeks but still came up short in part because a missed extra point by Robbie Gould forced them to try for two on their late touchdown.
This time it was a tired defense that hurt San Francisco. After facing 79 plays in a 12-9 loss at Seattle on Sunday, the 49ers appeared to run out of gas on the short week as Goff frequently had wide-open receivers, especially on third down.
All three of Goff's touchdown passes came on third down, including a 13-yard pass to Watkins early in the fourth quarter that gave Los Angeles a 41-26 lead.
The Rams needed all that offense on a night where Brian Hoyer threw for 332 yards and 2 touchdowns and ran for another score.
The Rams took just 12 seconds to grab the lead as Nickell Robey-Coleman intercepted Hoyer on the first play from scrimmage and returned it to the 3-yard line. Gurley ran it in on the next play to give the Rams a 7-0 lead.
Sports on 09/22/2017