01-31-2022, 10:55 AM
Three bad plays by the defensive backfield hurt the 49ers on the decisive final drive: Ward's senseless roughing penalty against OBJ, the drop by Tartt, and Williams missing the tackle on Kupp (and Tartt taking a terrible angle) which turned a two yard gain into a 25 yard gain.
Stafford was the NFL's best QB against the blitz this year (0.61 EPA per play) so the 49ers were just going to rush four most of the time and I thought they did reasonably well (especially Bosa) under the circumstances - they didn't force many throws under pressure but they didn't allow Stafford to just stand back there and find open receivers either, he was mostly releasing the ball quickly.
I thought the decisive factors were 1) LA's fantastic defensive line overwhelming a battered SF offensive line, which shut down the run game and had Garoppolo under increasing pressure as LA realized they could sell out and rush the passer, and 2) SF's poor defensive backfield. Skowronek was way behind the defense when he dropped Stafford's bomb, and Rams receivers were frequently wide open.
Stafford was the NFL's best QB against the blitz this year (0.61 EPA per play) so the 49ers were just going to rush four most of the time and I thought they did reasonably well (especially Bosa) under the circumstances - they didn't force many throws under pressure but they didn't allow Stafford to just stand back there and find open receivers either, he was mostly releasing the ball quickly.
I thought the decisive factors were 1) LA's fantastic defensive line overwhelming a battered SF offensive line, which shut down the run game and had Garoppolo under increasing pressure as LA realized they could sell out and rush the passer, and 2) SF's poor defensive backfield. Skowronek was way behind the defense when he dropped Stafford's bomb, and Rams receivers were frequently wide open.