That’s the date, IMO, that turned the 49ers into top team in the league in this era and began the regular season dominance of the Niners over our Rams till now.
The 49ers won 20-7 at the Coliseum. Their defense shut down the Rams after the Rams drove down for a touchdown on their first possession. In the second quarter, Goff clanked a pitch off of the facemask of Darrell Henderson resulting in a Niner fumble recovery at the Rams’ 17. I remember Robert Saleh was screaming like a madman five yards off the sideline pumping up his players. It was annoying the heck out of me and he just kept pumping up his defense because he had every reason to. Our OLinemen were being tossed around like rag dolls (Roger Saffold was gone). We had no run game. It was ugly.
But for me that changed the dynamic for this installment of the rivalry. The Fisher teams would lay the wood to the Niners and McVay had the better of them during his first two seasons. But this game changed that and pumped the Niners with a ton of confidence. This is the game that created the current 49er culture, in my opinion.
On Sept. 17, 2023 there will be a swing of the pendulum. I don’t know if the Rams will outscore the Niners when the final whistle blows. But I know the Rams will no longer be punked and may even take back the punking hammer. We will see. Curious to see if anyone has a different landmark game that’s lead to this slide. It’s therapeutic to write about it.
We Not Me
