Running back Todd Gurley, the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year last season, managed just 47 yards on 17 carries. “We felt good about our defense going into the game, but you never really know until you get in the game”.
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GOFF WAITS: Despite the struggles by Keenum, who was frequently off-target and struggled to get the ball down field at all, Fisher is not ready to turn the offence over to No. 1 overall draft pick Jared Goff. Goff was inactive as the third QB for the Rams and Garnett is buried on the depth chart in San Francisco.
“This doesn’t change anything as far as the quarterbacks are concerned”, Fisher said.
EFFICIENT GABBERT: Kelly picked Gabbert as his starting quarterback over Colin Kaepernick in part because of his consistency through the off-season. Ray-Ray Armstrong put an end to that hope with an interception a few plays later. Gabbert completed 22 of 35 passes for 170 yards and an 8-yard touchdown to tight end Vance McDonald.
“The credit doesn’t go to me, it goes to our defense and defensive staff”, Kelly said. Him and Shaun, they’re a tremendous one-two punch and you saw it tonight, how those two guys play complementary football and both ran extremely hard.
Carlos Hyde ran for 88 yards and two touchdowns and the San Francisco 49ers posted their first season-opening shutout in franchise history to spoil the Rams’ first game since moving back to Los Angeles with a 28-0 victory Monday night. The infraction came after Rams linebacker Alec Ogletree gave an extra push to Gabbert following a scramble.
The defensive tackle had earlier conceded a personal foul penalty for ripping a helmet off San Francisco’s Quinton Patton and the fired-up Donald was then ordered off the field after making contact with the referee.
“This team deserved better play from its quarterback and I intend on doing that”, Keenum said. Those were lacking against the Niners. He caught four of the 12 passes thrown his way for 13 yards and added 2 more on an end-around.
After building a 14-0 first-half lead, the 49ers went three-and-out on their first three drives of the second half, and the Rams moved to San Francisco’s 26 after Tavon Austin’s 28-yard punt return.
“People counted us out before the season even started”, Hyde said. Don’t just rely on me all the time.’ It’s a two-man game with us, when we run the read-option. We were open a lot out there today. “We just stayed together as a group and worked together”. That’s the main thing.
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PUNT PARTY: For much of the game, the punters had as much impact as any other players.
