What the 49ers are saying after beating the Rams
The 49ers are 2-0 before their first home game of the 2023 season.
They beat the Rams 30-23 on Sunday afternoon in Los Angeles, using two second-half interceptions to win a tight game against their division rivals.
Brock Purdy finished 17-of-25 passing without a touchdown or an interception. Christian McCaffrey rushed for 116 yards on 20 attempts, while Deebo Samuel made six catches for 63 yards and added a touchdown on a quick screen that was technically counted as a run.
Those two interceptions came from cornerbacks Isaiah Oliver, who made a juggling catch on a deflected pass inside 49ers’ territory, and Deommodore Lenoir, who jumped a route in the fourth quarter to stop a potential game-tying drive before it got started.
The Niners turned both interceptions into field goals on the ensuing possessions, as rookie Jake Moody made all three of his attempts, including a 57-yarder.
Here’s what Kyle Shanahan and the 49ers had to say after the game:
Kyle Shanahan
On Aiyuk’s injury:
I know he was hurting a little bit but he was able to play through it so it’ll be all right.
On what made the difference:
What sealed it and what allowed us to separate ourselves was the two turnovers. … I was just pumped with the way we finished.
On Purdy’s misses:
Besides those three misses, which none of them were easy, he took care of the football.
On why he went for it to end the first half:
We were so close. They were also scoring a lot of points, so we needed points at the time and we also believed we could do it.
On Bosa’s quiet day til the end:
I saw him make a number of plays at the end, I thought he pressured him sometimes.
On the defensive playcalling:
I thought Steve did a good job of mixing it up, you know, especially at the end there, being aggressive.
On the Rams:
We watched the film from last week, and that quarterback’s still just as good as he’s always been and so is Aaron Donald, and like we saw last week, they’re coached very well. They got some new schemes and I know they’ve changed some players from the past, but there’s still some Hall of Famers out there who are playing at a high level.
On Donald, who had no tackles:
We just committed everything to him because if you don’t, he wrecks everything.
On getting better:
We got a long way to go. I thought we did last week, too. Hopefully we got a little bit better this week and will continue throughout the year.
On the Rams’ offense:
I just think it all started with Stafford. Just him getting so hot there at the beginning and especially the way they came out on that opening drive, kind of attacking our zones, and looking pretty effortless at it. … He did a good job keeping us off balance and that once we tightened it up a little bit in the second half, things started to go better.
On the playcalling to end the first half:
We didn’t have any timeouts, so running the ball is only an option if you know you’re going to score. That’s why the other plays, we tried to do them as fast as possible. And that’s why you tell Brock if it’s not there, try to throw it away as fast as you can. One was almost too high. So I was scared that they’re gonna run one more second off. But yeah, when you get to the last play, then anything’s open because after that play, it is going to be over. So that’s the only time that really everything’s on the table.
Nick Bosa
On improving in the second half:
We made some adjustments in the run game, which I think helped. And turnovers … obviously that helps, and we kind of got into some of our pressures on earlier downs, which is good against them.
On how he’s feeling:
I’m not too concerned about it. I feel good. I think I needed a couple of games to get my body into football shape — for sure, you can’t simulate it. And now that I’m through two and I had some pretty good output for this one, I think I’m only going to be up from here.
On not taking Rams lightly:
Always with the Rams and divisional opponents. And they have a lot of the cornerstone pieces that they’ve had on their runs, so you never expect to walk through an opponent.
On his play:
I think I improved from last week for sure. I was a lot more comfortable. I had some answers to some of the things that were thrown at me and definitely some things I want to work on, which is tough, especially (with a game coming) Thursday night.
Christian McCaffrey
On the matchup:
Schematically, they know us, we know them. So sometimes those are going to be, obviously, tough games.
On his assessment of the game:
I always wait to watch the tape to make any broad assumptions, but I think energetically, we took care of the ball and I think that was important.
On his run:
I saw some great blocks. Deebo had a great block Jauan had a great block, going in motion and doing what he does. After that, instincts take over, but George had a great block, too, at the point of attack. Juice, all those guys all day, man. The o-line, they play so hard and fight for every single yard. Love those guys.
On what he said to Witherspoon:
Just ‘What’s up, man? Good to see you.’ Just casual conversation.
On the offensive line:
Obviously they’re coached by one of the best to ever do it and the way it fits the scheme is so important. I just see a lot of guys who understand how to play together. They understand how to block certain fronts, they communicate really well, and then they play hard.
On Brock Purdy:
I think everyone’s a little less shocked when he makes really good plays and makes great decisions because that’s just who he is.
On value of familiarity with the offense:
You run with your eyes and your feet follow, so understanding where to put your eyes on every run and what you know, what the scheme is trying to accomplish, is so important, so just having more wisdom under my belt is very important.
Brock Purdy
On the missed deep balls:
In my eyes, there was a couple of opportunities, obviously, out there that you know I missed. and In terms of the deep … I gotta be better, I gotta hit ’em in stride and not overthrow them. Simple as that.
On the game:
Today it came down to not turning the ball over and we knew that going into it. For myself, it’s like man, I gotta make plays for my team, and at the same time protect the ball more than anything.
On the two-minute drill to end the first half:
When I first got here is the first time I got exposed to that in terms of how Kyle thinks about two-minute drives. Obviously, you want to go down and score and get points on the board. But you know, there’s times where you don’t need to do it as fast, so that you don’t get the other team the ball back to do the same as well.
On the sneak and Garoppolo’s track record on sneaks:
We always try to figure it out, like what does Jimmy do so good with the QB sneak, you know, the team. He just found little creases and whatnot but you know, got the shoulder pads down and would find a way, so that was really about it.
On missed opportunities:
To dwell on it and to live in the past and beat yourself up on it, I feel like that can hinder your game moving forward. So there’s a fine line. I feel like when the game ends, it’s like yeah, be hard on yourself, learn from it. But right then and there in the moemt, you got to find a way to move on and play a clean game.
Fred Warner
On what was different in the second half:
In the first half, that run game kept them ahead of the sticks a lot. They were taking what we were giving them. We had to tighten things up in the back end and try to make it a littler harder on Stafford.
On Oliver’s interception:
Isaiah was right there for when the ball tipped up by the running back right into his hands. Made a huge play in a crucial moment.
On the Rams:
It’s a division opponent. We see them twice a year. It’s always been a tough battle for us every single time we play those guys. People want to talk about our record against them in the regular season. It’wa always a hard-fought battle just like that game was today.
On fellow BYU alum Puka Nacua:
My guy Puka Nacua had a heck of a game. Every time I turn and look, he was catching the ball and falling forward, two guys hanging on.
Deebo Samuel
On his touchdown:
Kind of like a little quick bubble and we knew I was gonna be one-on-one with the corner and he shot his gun, but luckily he shot at my foot and I was able to break the tackle and get in the end zone. You can just see all the guys how determined, how determined they was to get me in the end zone.
On improving from here:
We are gonna watch this hard. We know Kyle’s going to come down on us hard, you know. We missed a lot of opportunities and I feel like we left like four touchdowns out there. But that’s what practice is for.
On the two-minute drill:
That’s something we do every day at the walkthroughs for the two-minute drill and the plays in time management. I think Brock does a real good job with it and Kyle does a real good job putting us in a good position.