The San Francisco 49ers (10–7) were forced to win their sixth straight over the Los Angeles Rams (12–5) to clinch a playoff berth, and successfully rallied from a 17-point deficit at SOFI Stadium, with Robbie Gould kicking the 24-yard field goal game winner in overtime for a 27–24 victory.
The win places the Niners into the NFC playoffs as a Wildcard at the Dallas Cowboys next week.
“Getting off to a slow start and then coming back like we did, it took everything,” said Niners quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo. “We say that a lot of weeks, but this one really did. I felt it after the game. I know a lot of guys in that locker room did. It was worth it, though. It was one of those games you won’t forget any time soon.”
Garappolo passed for 316 yards on 23 of 32 attempts, one touchdown, and two interceptions.
Niners’ Deebo Samuel was most instrumental in the comeback rushing for a touchdown, catching two touchdowns, and also throwing a 24-yard touchdown to Jauan Jennings in the third quarter. The Rams were unable to stop Samuel as he caught six passes for 94 yards, and rushed for 45 yards on eight carries.
The Rams’ failure to win kept them from the #2 NFC seed and the likelihood of hosting two or more playoff games; but still managed to capture the NFC West Division as the #4 seed, due to the Arizona Cardinals’ loss to the Seattle Seahawks. The Rams and Cardinals split their divisional regular season meetings, both winning away, and will play for the third time this season in the opening round of the playoffs in LA next week.
Rams quarterback Matt Stafford completed 21 of 32 attempts for 238 yards and three touchdowns; his two interceptions would be costly.
Rams WR Cooper Kupp caught seven passes for 118 yards and one touchdown. Tight End Tyler Higbee had six catches, two of which were for consecutive touchdowns in the first half.
The Rams completely dominated the first half to take a 17–0 lead, which included a Matt Gay 43-yard field goal on the opening drive. The Niners’ defense was able to sack Stafford late in the half to end a Rams’ drive, which led to a field goal, 17–3, to end the half with some momentum.
The Niners began the second half with a 75-yard touchdown drive that culminated in Samuel’s 16-yard touchdown run. They would tie the game, 17–17, on the following drive of 74-yards capped off by Samuel’s 24-yard TD pass to Jennings.
The Rams avoided another Niners score late in the game with Jalen Ramsey’s interception of Garoppolo in the the end zone intended for George Kittle.
LA would march 92 yards to retake the lead with 2:29 left in the game with Kupp’s 4-yard touchdown catch. A victory seemed likely as they forced the Niners to punt just after the two-minute warning.
However, the 49ers stopped a conservative drive of three consecutive runs to regain possession and score on a Jennings 14-yard touchdown catch at the end of an 88-yards drive in 61 seconds, on five plays, to go to overtime 24–24.
The Niners won the coin flip to start OT with possession, and take the lead with a 24-yard field goal by Robbie Gould at 2:45 remaining, and Ambry Thomas intercepted Stafford’s long pass attempt to Odell Beckham to seal the victory 27–24.
“There are some plays out there I want back,” Stafford said. “I guess [winning the division] is nice. It means you get a home playoff game. But we would have rather won the game, for sure.”
In five years with the Rams, coach Sean McVay won his third division title. This was the first loss, following a 45–0 record, after leading at halftime. The winning streak was the second-longest in NFL history, behind the Green Bay Packers’ 49-game record in the 1930s.
“This is a tough feeling,” said McVay. “Our guys did a good job being able to navigate through the season. To be able to still win the division is a good accomplishment, but I don’t know that right now is the time to celebrate that.”
“Our guys are so resilient,“ said Niners coach Kyle Shanahan. “I’m very proud of them, and I’m just glad that we get to go into the tournament and be a part of it.”
