Here’s OntarioRam…
Stafford really hurt us tonight. TDs were there to be had in the red zone, but he missed them. And his turnovers were costly. You have to take the good and the bad with Matthew, but I wish he could save his stinkers and turnovers for someone other than the 49ers. Or prime time.
Speaking of turnovers, Stafford locks onto Kupp too much. It is killing us. It makes the Rams' offense too predictable. And it sees Kupp's injury risk shoot through the roof with this much usage. On the INT where Matthew targeted Kupp on the screen pass, he telegraphed the throw the entire way, and then threw a slow-pitch. That can't happen. RGIII had an interesting tweet indicating that the RB, on the other side of the field (!), is who that play is designed for and not the WR. Which would explain why McVay was talking to Stafford after with lots of displeasure on his face... brutal.
The offensive line is in complete shambles. Hopefully, Shelton is okay. We need to get healthy in the worst way, but I thought our 2nd and 3rd stingers actually played about as well as one could reasonable expect, so hats off to them. We were on the road vs. an absolutely elite defence and moved the ball well, just stalling in the red zone.
ARob is averaging 3 targets per game, and that is with Van Jefferson not even in the lineup. Ouch. He looks like a bust, but who can even say, with this little usage? And of the few targets he does get, a few have been absolute prayers. Not 50-50 balls looking for a contested catch. Complete miracle balls. We need to force feed him and see what we have. If he is washed, so be it, but he is not even getting looks, and to my eye, he has been open plenty of times.
I do think that the team misses Van Jefferson as a deep threat, which will hopefully help stretch the field and open things up for everyone. But if Van Jefferson is being pined over, you're in trouble. And Tutu is not even active as we look for a field stretcher. Complete bust. It's official now. Sad.
Zero pass rush. Donald played great, at times drawing triple teams (!). Yet I don't think I noticed another defensive lineman all night, and the 49ers had some injuries on their o-line, too. This defensive line needs help. Perhaps we should have just paid Von Miller...
Akers looks to be toast. Hendo needs to be the lead back going forward. Which makes this one weak, injury prone RB room. Hopefully, Kyren Williams can show something once he is back, which I believe might be for week 8 after the bye week.
The defense was awful. Missed tacklers everywhere. Soft coverage. We did not give up too many points, but that is only because the 49ers missed on several huge plays, with dropped passes and inaccurate throws, as well as a FG. The jury is still out on Raheem Morris but the fact I am saying this 1.25 years into his tenure is very concerning. Has he ever devised an excellent game plan against a strong opponent without the benefit of having both AD99 on Miller on the d-line? I cannot seem to recall one, but am open to correction.
Wager was brought in for precisely this type of game, but his impact tonight was minimal, save for one very nice TD saving tackle on the goal-line. He has been very underwhelming thus far in horns. Hugely disappointing.
I thought McVay called a decent game. It's not up to him to execute in the red zone. The plays were there to be made.
It is a long season. It is about how you look in January and no early October. But right now, I don't see this team having even a slight change of repeating. No way we beat any of the AFC juggernauts right now. Perhaps we can make some adjustments and add to the roster as the season progresses. The NFC is so weak that I think we have as good of a chance as anyone else in-conference of making it to the big game, if we can heal up and stay relatively healthy thereafter. But no way we can dance with the AFC at present.
Probably much more I am forgetting...
