Carlos Hyde ran for 88 yards and two touchdowns as the San Francisco 49ers spoiled the Rams’ first game since moving back to Los Angeles with a 28-0 victory in the National Football League on Monday. Even if the team feels he isn’t ready at all, they can not go forward without giving Goff a try.
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“They are not a better football team than us”, Austin said adamantly after the loss.
The Rams had no rhythm, no confidence and played as if they didn’t have an exhibition season. “We’ve got to come back with a sense of urgency”.
That added up to a long, frustrating night for Gurley. This win was San Francisco’s first shutout since beating the Jets 34-0 in 2012. The Rams need to improve offensively if they expect to win football games.
Los Angeles running back Todd Gurley ran for just 47 yards on 17 carries.
DOWN DRAFT PICKS: Both the Rams and Niners traded up for first-round picks in April with Los Angeles mortgaging the future to take quarterback Jared Goff first overall and San Francisco trading back into the first round to select guard Joshua Garnett 28th. That’s certainly overkill. The abandon Gabbert displayed in rushing eight times for 41 yards probably isn’t sustainable, but the end result was extended drives when he and the receivers weren’t clicking early on.
Blaine Gabbert was sacked zero times by a line that features Aaron Donald and Robbert Quinn.
Receiver Tavon Austin also had been kept under wraps during exhibitions. Swarmed their ball carriers from sideline to sideline. However, after the whistle, Gurley was penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct – he threw the ball at a 49ers defender – pushing the Rams back 15 yards.
Gabbert extended plays with his legs and came up with big completions in third- and fourth-down situations. He ran for two key first downs on the 49ers’ first touchdown drive that Hyde capped with an 11-yard run in the first quarter. After the 49ers forced a Rams punt on the opening possession of the game, Jeremy Kerley was back in the position previously filled by the Australian to receive it.
The end result has been the Rams not only being awful on offense in general, but historically bad on third down in recent years – where they finished the night with a conversion rate of 3-15 (20 percent).
Gabbert’s passing wasn’t a bright spot (22-of-35, 170 yards, one touchdown), but it wasn’t as ghastly as that of his counterpart. Case Keenum was sacked only twice but was under pressure from blitzing safeties throughout the evening. The only way they could have lost was to commit a turnover.
Midway through the first quarter, the 49ers started the first of their two scoring drives. The 28 first downs were the first time the 49ers touched that number since 2012. If watching Hyde take hits give you heart trouble, then watching Kerley return punts is like taking Zantac.
One play earlier, the Rams had an apparent first down at the 49ers’ 30 after Gurley gained 4 yards on fourth-and-2. Instead, Keenum made a bad read and easily was intercepted by linebacker Ray-Ray Armstrong.
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Asked if he’s ever caught his own pass, Gabbert replied: “For negative-16 yards and power slammed after? No”.
