Short-handed 49ers stop Rams on downs in overtime, preserving a 26-23 victory – NBC Los Angeles

Eddy Piñeiro hit a 41-yard field goal in overtime before the San Francisco defense stopped Kyren Williams on fourth down with 3:36 to play, and the short-handed 49ers hung on for a thrilling 26-23 victory over the Los Angeles Rams on Thursday night.

Mac Jones passed for 342 yards and two touchdowns for the 49ers (4-1), who won it in OT after a frantic fourth quarter featuring Piñeiro’s tiebreaking 59-yard field goal with 2:52 left, Williams’ subsequent goal-line fumble and Joshua Karty’s tying 48-yard field goal for the Rams (3-2) with 2 seconds to play.

The Rams gave the ball to San Francisco to begin overtime, and Jones drove to set up Piñeiro’s third field goal with 5:51 left.

Los Angeles marched down the field, and facing fourth-and-1 at the San Francisco 11, coach Sean McVay elected to go for it. Marques Sigle and Deommodore Lenoir got credit for smothering Williams well short of the first down.

After the game, Williams took the responsibility for the loss.

“This sucks. I just have to hold on to the ball. I let the team down on the one-yard line by not securing the one thing that matters and not scoring the touchdown,” said Williams. “I put this all on me. I have to be better.”

Christian McCaffrey made eight catches for 82 yards and rushed for 57 yards for the 49ers, who improbably snapped their three-game losing streak in this NFC West rivalry despite the injury absences of Brock Purdy, Nick Bosa and three top offensive playmakers.

Kendrick Bourne had career highs of 10 catches for 142 yards, while Jones played impressively through an apparent leg injury.

Matthew Stafford passed for 389 yards and three touchdowns for the Rams, who lost despite racking up 319 yards after halftime. Los Angeles also had an extra point blocked and fumbled twice deep in 49ers territory.

“Losses like this hurt for sure,” said receiver Davante Adams after the game. “There’s not a lot of joyous faces in here, but there’s a lot to be said about a team that can play as bad as we did and still have a shot to win the game.”

San Francisco’s Alfred Collins forced and recovered Williams’ fumble at the goal line with 1:05 left in regulation by punching the ball away when Williams was about to score the Rams’ go-ahead TD. Williams lost the ball at the goal line five days after Indianapolis’ Adonai Mitchell fumbled an instant before crossing the same goal line in the Rams’ 27-20 victory.

Los Angeles still used its three timeouts to force a punt. After Stafford hit Williams for a long gain on fourth-and-3, Karty nailed his tying field goal.

Puka Nacua had 10 receptions for 85 yards and a touchdown for LA, becoming the first receiver in NFL history with more than 50 catches in his team’s first five games.

Purdy sat out for the third time in four games with his toe injury. San Francisco also played without injured receivers Jauan Jennings and Ricky Pearsall and tight end George Kittle — but Jones, McCaffrey and a fired-up defense did just enough to reassert the Niners’ dominance in this matchup.

The game was another memorable edition of the California rivalry that has mostly been tilted in the Niners’ favor since Kyle Shanahan and McVay got their jobs a month apart in early 2017. San Francisco won nine of 10 from 2019 to 2023, losing only in a thrilling NFC championship game, before the Rams won the past three against a less-than-full-strength Niners roster.

Jake Tonges and McCaffrey caught TD passes for the Niners on their opening drives. Rams running back Blake Corum then fumbled in San Francisco territory, but the Rams rebounded with Williams’ 14-yard TD catch 2:09 before halftime.

Jones started to limp on the field even before he went down in pain from a hard hit by Byron Young during the third quarter, but the quarterback stayed in the game after getting treatment.

Karty missed a long field-goal attempt in the third before Nacua caught a TD pass on the next drive. Williams’ second TD catch then capped an 88-yard drive, but lineman Jordan Elliott got his hand on Karty’s extra-point try.

Injuries

49ers: DT Yetur Gross-Matos injured his hamstring in the second half and didn’t return. … DT Kalia Davis hurt his hand in the first half and didn’t return. … LB Dee Winters hurt his shoulder in the second half.

Rams: RT Rob Havenstein and TE Tyler Higbee were inactive.

Up next

49ers: Visit the Buccaneers on Sunday, Oct. 12.

Rams: Visit the Ravens on Sunday, Oct. 12.