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 37-yard field goal from Joshua Karty, which was the first game-winning kick of his career.
Stafford went 16-of-26 for 221 yards and a touchdown in the win for the Rams. Williams had 89 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 24 carries, and then another 27 yards and a touchdown on a pair of catches. Atwell led the way through the air with 93 yards on four catches. The Rams are still without star receivers Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua, who are out with an ankle and knee injury, respectfully.
Purdy looked very solid for most of the game without most of his weapons available. He went 22-of-30 for 292 yards with three touchdown in the loss for San Francisco, and had another 41 rushing yards on 10 carries. Jordan Mason added 77 rushing yards on 19 carries.
Jennings had a career outing for the 49ers, too. He hauled in three touchdowns while racking up 175 receiving yards on 11 catches. It was the first game of his career in which he had more than 100 receiving yards. He is now the first 49ers wide receiver to have three receiving touchdowns in the same game since Terrell Owens did so in 2001.
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.
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.
While the 49ers nearly pulled it off without the offensive trio available, their absence was clearly felt late on Sunday afternoon in Southern California. The 49ers will attempt to snap their two-game losing skid next weekend against the New England Patriots.