October 3, 2025 • 22 mins
Patrick Claybon and Nick Shook recap a gritty overtime edition of Thursday Night Football between the 49ers and Rams that saw San Francisco come away with an ever-valuable divisional game victory. Mac Jones displayed incredible toughness, Christian McCaffrey dominated the Rams second-level defense, and the Los Angeles running backs ultimately fumbled away the game, with no help from the special teams unit that failed to convert coveted points late.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Stafford gets under center at the eleven yard line.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
He takes it, he turns, he gives the Karen Williams,
he gets packed.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
I think he's short, Tim, I think he's short.
Speaker 3 (00:09):
And the forty nine ers start in the field.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
It is all over.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
The forty doers have won it in over time here
in La.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
What an unbelievable win. High drama finishes in favor.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
Look a mass unit, the forty nine ers, and they
earned it.
Speaker 4 (00:27):
The mass unit forty nine ers do get it done.
We'll put an asterisk on that urn because the Rams
made a lot of mistakes. Welcome in to NFL Daily
Thursday night.
Speaker 5 (00:36):
Football recap after claybound here with Nick.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
Shook joining you for the comfort of our homes in
a game that was in my adopted home of Los Angeles, California,
where the forty nine ers should come up with an
improbable win against the Rams, but.
Speaker 5 (00:49):
Matthew Stafford falls to one in four. It's so far.
Speaker 4 (00:53):
Against Kyle Shanahan and these forty nine ers. Good to
see you, man, What a finish, what a game?
Speaker 1 (00:58):
Yeah, good to see you too. I'm trying to think
about one in fourth so far against Kyle Shanahan. That
one game he won would have been the NFC Championship game,
the way to those Super Bowl victory.
Speaker 4 (01:07):
I believe, so if I'm going to check that, uh
while we do this, But yeah, the one being a doozy,
the one.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
That mattered, but the other ones, Yeah.
Speaker 5 (01:15):
There's some weird ones in there, and this was one
of them.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
Yeah, this was definitely weird. I mean, I feel like
this was a bit of a marathon. It was an
odyssey of sorts. I felt like I needed a nap
after it was over. And it was also a fantastic
chess match. I think of two coaches from the same tree.
And again another great example of why we I wish
we could have every game in prime vision because it
just opens up what you can see and what you
(01:39):
could see. There was then both using their approaches that
whether they're going to come into tight formation and try
to capitalize outside the numbers, whether they're going to motion
a lot, whether they're going to capitalize on one defense
suddenly switching the man in the fourth quarter and victimizing
you with DeVante Adams, with some potentially illegal slash, illegal
screens like setting some natural rubs, all sorts of different things.
It was just back and forth chess match. Chess piece
(02:00):
moved here, another piece moved here. Felt like I was
sitting in a park and guys are making a move
and hitting the clock like it was. It was a
fantastic back and forth, A really entertaining game, got weird
at times to finish, a little anti climactic depending on
who you were rooting for, I suppose, but a doozy
of a Thursday night football game that may make us
reconsider the state of the NFC West.
Speaker 5 (02:21):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (02:21):
Absolutely, again, a game that I thought was gonna be
a rock fight show. It was gonna be fifteen to twelve. Ultimately,
they were going up and down the field, and so
let's look at the history on those chess moves and
start this game with There's there's dealing, and then there's
how Mac Jones started the game. On the first two drives,
he completed eleven of thirteen passes, one to Jake Toon
just for a touchdown. Another one where coming into this game,
(02:43):
considering the injuries and the way Kendrick Borden had played
for shout out for what we'll.
Speaker 5 (02:47):
Discuss as the game goes on.
Speaker 4 (02:49):
I thought this was going to be all CMC and
it started with a touchdown pass to Christian McCaffrey and
let's let's watch it.
Speaker 5 (02:56):
Listen. I love the map too.
Speaker 1 (02:58):
McCaffrey's got right now, Max Shawn's closed mcafe.
Speaker 5 (03:02):
He's got it.
Speaker 6 (03:04):
Touchdown, touchdown, touchdown forty and it's a two scored lead
here early in the second quarter.
Speaker 4 (03:13):
All Niners at that point shook. And when the call
can see the matchup on the goal line and everybody knows,
you know it's not you don't want to be out
there all along with twenty three surprise surprise, the results.
Speaker 5 (03:24):
Of the touchdown. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
Yeah, it's a very standard roll out play that you
run on the goal line. You just hope to create
enough of a crease that your defenders never going to
catch up and undercut that play, And of course that's
what happened. But it really set an early shocking tone
that the forty nine ers were able to grab a
fourteen to nothing advantage.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
It felt like they had.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
Prepared perfectly for what they were going to deal with
in terms of disadvantageous circumstances, not having brock Party, not
having Juwan Jennings, not having Ricky Piersoll and being forced to.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
Play with Mac Jones, who, by the way, a couple of.
Speaker 1 (03:52):
Weeks ago suffered a knee injury that he was dealing
with against the Cardinals that limited him in that game. Now,
they didn't need him last week, but they certainly needed
him tonight and he needs his inner strength to be
able to get through this game. So it was really
important for them to get off to that hot start.
They basically realized, we're going to take what the defense
gives us. We're going to move down the field efficiently,
and I think it caught the Rams by surprise for
almost two full quarters before they could kind of figure,
(04:14):
you know, regain their bearings and figure out how are
we going to counter this, And that's when the chess
match really began.
Speaker 4 (04:20):
Yeah, And one of those finding their bearings was a
simple toss play from Stafford to Blake Korn. It gets
credited as a Stafford fumble, but Blake got caught looking
for his future instead of the football and it results
in a turnover that the forty nine ers are able
to enjoy that CMC touchdown off. So at that point
fourteen nothing again, Mac Jones is dealing and Kendrick Bourne
(04:41):
catches a couple of drives on the draft on catch
a couple of balls on the drive, and then there's
a third down where he just puts one on the
turf and there's life for the Rams. They come back
and score on a drive where Stafford uses Ferguson on
third down hits Kyen Williams for a thirteen yard scorer.
From that point on, so like, we have a really
solid middle of the football game for both teams.
Speaker 1 (05:03):
Yeah, and that was when I feel like, like you said,
new life and really an opportunity for them to get
back into this game. What's funny too, is there was
another sequence where the Niners had a chance to potentially
go up twenty one to seven, and instead they get
they are limited to a seventeen to seven lead, and
then they actually they kick a field but they could
have been on twenty four to seven. They kick a
fiel able to make it twenty to seven, and that
was like one of those shifting points where you're like,
(05:24):
they get in the end zone here, this game m'd
be over and instead the Rams blow up and stop them.
But it was those those flash points within this game
where it just like the tides just rise and fell
rose and fell throughout this game. And yeah, it's it's
interesting because another thing that developed throughout this game that
I thought really changed the flow of it was the
trench play.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
I know that's like my thing, right, but early on, early.
Speaker 1 (05:49):
On, the Niners are destroying the Rams in the trenches.
They're getting great searge, they're doing whatever they want. They
can't get pressure on Mac Jones, They're allowing him to
get those balls out quickly. And then by the second half,
the Rams wise, we have to change the way that
we're approaching this game. We have to move Jared Verse
into the A gap. We have to mug him in
the A gap and just confuse what Max Jones is
(06:11):
looking at. And that's another point in the game in
which it really changed. But yeah, the Rams needed that
first entry back into this game for it to even
be an entertaining contest.
Speaker 5 (06:20):
Yeah, there was.
Speaker 4 (06:21):
As we get into the second half, Nate Landman, great
night for him, but we love calling him. Land Man
makes great play on a third down where the forty
nine Ers ultimately had a fourth and one deep in
their own territory. Kyl Shanahank goes for it, but then
they get a little farther down the field, Landman makes
that play and then the ensuing drive is all Stafford
(06:45):
to Davonte. This is that connection where you know, there
may have been some boget illegal screens out there to
kind of free up Davante, you know, at this point
the second half. But you really saw that connection really
start to get going in the middle part of the
second half, and it leads to a touchdown, but Cardy
(07:06):
comes out the extra points no good, and we all
put a pin in that one because it just felt
like at that point that would have given the Rams
a one point lead, like this is going to come
back and absolutely brutalized lossing.
Speaker 5 (07:18):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
Yeah, the Rams were kind of peeking around the curtain
with their failure in the detailed department. There would be
There was a sequence earlier in the game where they
had three drops in a row that killed one of
their drives. Quorum dropped one of the flats, Kyra Williams
dropped one that would have been a first down. They
were missing tackles pretty consistently. They're just the little detailed
things they were.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
Not doing well.
Speaker 1 (07:38):
And then the ugly head rears itself again and that
is their field goal. Unit has not been consistent when
it comes to blocking this season. That was their fourth
kick block this season. We know what happened in Philly
with a two kicksblock. They had one blocked against the Titans.
This one keeps it a tie game and makes us
all realize, oh, we're in for one now instead of
a one point advantage, we are firmly in the potential
(08:00):
overtime zone, which is exactly what we ended up getting.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
But yeah, it was the details. It was the details.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
And also on that drive, I love the way that
this game unfolded because for most of the night the
Niners are playing zone and for some reason they go
to man in that drive and Adams just completely torches them.
It's just Stafford and Adams like he's running great routes,
he's separating from a rookie corner. He's we've got a
dime from Stafford over the mill in between two defenders
(08:25):
to Adams who broke free from another defender. And I
think even Herbstreet mentioned on the collees. Now they're suddenly
running in and it's killing them, and I don't think
they did it very long. In fact, according to next Gen,
they only ran man coverage on ten total defensive plays,
and I can see why, but it was a great
opportunity for the Rams to get back in the game
and for Sean mcvagh to quickly identify that and work
in tandem with this quarterback to get DeVante Adams open,
which opened up the rest of their offense because for
(08:46):
a while too, Pukanakool was not a major factor in
this game. And then all kind of changed in the
second half.
Speaker 4 (08:52):
Yeah, especially in the second half over on the Rams
defensive side of the ball on Bradon Fisk had a
good shot on mac Jones in the the red zone
on we ultimately was the scoring drop for the forty
nine ers. Young as well as Turner all got hits
on mac Jones that started to really accumulate on the quarterback.
Speaker 5 (09:11):
At one point I wondered if his knee.
Speaker 4 (09:12):
Brace shook had actually stabbed him in the calf, and
that's what was what he was reacting to, as you know,
a burst lands on top of him. And so the
fourth the Brams were able to get a stop, so
a tie, tie game eight minutes to go in the
third quarter, a crucial third and one. And it's back
to those details. We were talking about shook because Davante
and Stafford are on different pages on an option route
(09:35):
and they wind up punting the ball away. And I
wonder how you felt about that play call, because I mean,
it's two vets, two guys who maybe going to Canton.
You just you take that l when you can get
a chick.
Speaker 5 (09:48):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
I'm so glad that you brought this up, because that
was the stretch in the game in which I felt
Sean McVay, like many Madden players, for example, fell in
love with the past too much. He went away from
the run way too heavy in that stretch of time.
And I think it was because it worked so well
in the previous drive that they're like, let's just keep
riding the hot hand. And there was a pass I
think on that drive early in that sequence where he
(10:09):
misses downfield where you're like, why are you taking a
shot fifteen yards down the field when it's first and ten.
I guess I understand that if you're you know, if
the passing game is heating up, but second and third down,
they're still throwing. They're still throwing, they're still throwing, and
they just became unbalanced, and I think that really pained
them in that stretch and allowed because it was a
back and forth they they punned away pretty quickly.
Speaker 2 (10:26):
The Niners punted it away pretty quickly.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
There was a bit of a stalemate between the two
sides where I felt they both kind of got out
of their comfort zone, out of their rhythm and had
to reset, And luckily they did because it set up
for a great final quarter.
Speaker 4 (10:37):
Yeah, that final quarter after Stafford and DeVante can't link up.
It's a spectacular punt so far as going nuts there
at the two yard line. And then we get the
mac Jones drive. Shook, the absolute mac Jones drive, which
includes dump offs to see them see a couple of
balls to Kendrick Bourne and Eddip you know, making a kick.
Speaker 5 (10:56):
His eyes getting big as saucers.
Speaker 4 (10:58):
He's talking to everybody saying, just doing what Eddie Pinero
does at this point, but the Rams get the ball,
they have an opportunity and Alfred Collins, the rookie out
of Texas, makes the play of the game on Kira
Williams at the gold line. Stafford takes gives kyon Williams
(11:18):
and he.
Speaker 5 (11:19):
Is he fumbled it. The Niners are.
Speaker 4 (11:23):
Saying they got it.
Speaker 3 (11:25):
The play was shy in the line to gain wait
for a signal.
Speaker 4 (11:28):
They're unpiling everybody at the one.
Speaker 1 (11:30):
The forty nine ers come out of there, Alfred Collins
has the football.
Speaker 4 (11:42):
And so that it with so many of these fumble situations,
you know, you get the shot of Kira Williams getting
brutalized over just doing it to himself on the sideline's
beside himself. I'm of the mindset when al Collins not
only hits the ball there, he hits the ball and
follow through he essentially bunch a Kyra Williams in the face.
That was just a great defensive play where it's not
(12:05):
like Kyra Williams wasn't protecting the football. It's just a
big man got a great shot on the ball in
a big moment and also recovered it.
Speaker 5 (12:12):
Just a huge play by the room.
Speaker 1 (12:14):
We all need to take a moment to thank Charles
Peanut Tillman for his impact on the game. He's been
retired for a while now, but it is evident in
the way guys tackle every Sunday in every game, and
this is the third time I can think of a
running back getting the ball punched out in almost the
exact same way on the goal line.
Speaker 2 (12:30):
In the last two weeks.
Speaker 1 (12:31):
It happened to Remindra Stevenson against the Steelers in Week three,
it happened to Braylen Allen against the Dolphins on Monday
Night at the end of Week four. And now we
go into Week five and you see it in the
first game of that week, and it's a crucial play
because if he scores there, I think that game is
largely over unless the Niners can find a way to
get down the field, which I don't think they were
going to be able to. And this is just an
(12:51):
example of how these Niners, all these injuries that that
they've suffered, like they are a walking, traveling mass unit,
and yet somehow guys step up and make plays in
clutch situations like that. It is an absolutely phenomenal tackle,
one of the best plays you're ever going to see
from an interior defensive lineman with the game on the line,
coming in from behind and knocking out and then also
(13:11):
recovering it. And I think it was so shocking in
the moment, but it was also at the end of
a sequence in which the Rams had all the momentum
behind them. They were cruising down the field, Stafford's hitting atoms,
He's hitting Puka Hirom Williams bounce as a run that
was supposed to go left to the right side for
a twenty yard game, they looked destined for the end zone.
Speaker 2 (13:31):
The Niners could not stop them.
Speaker 1 (13:32):
And with three feet between the Rams and the lead
and possibly a win, the Niners find a way to
respond and keep this thing in a close game.
Speaker 4 (13:40):
There was daylight between Karen Williams and the end zone.
If Collins does not get that ball out, yeah, because
Collins not only got the ball back, but he prevented
the touchdown because Williams was going in. And you know,
those who believe in the MO might ask why it
did not provide the Rams with a touchdown, because you
have to make the plays. You have to do the
(14:02):
things the preceding plays can't make the subsequent play for you.
In Alfred Collins understood that, understands that, and yeah, shout
out to Charles P. Nutt Tillman, who recently left cash
Bettel's FBI not necessarily aligning with its vision for law enforcement.
And so at that point, the forty nine ers get
(14:22):
the ball back. Yeah, congratulations. The problem is the Rams
had all three of their timeouts, and Kyle Shanahan with it,
a quarterback who has struggled to get on and off
the field, shook at that point, Alex to be very conservative.
I also wonder how you feel about that series from
the forty nine ers where they essentially ran about twelve
seconds off of the clock and got Stafford the ball
(14:44):
back around midfield.
Speaker 1 (14:45):
Yeah. I mean, the entire passing game, the whole evening
was predicated on getting the ball out quickly. But when
you're backed up against you're on goalpost, you're on the
one yard line. The Rams have no reason to respect
the deep shot when they know that you have no
room to navigate in the pocket and find something deep.
So they're going to play press coverage, they're going to
create tight passing windows. And it wasn't until that third
down where they got the ball out and got closer
(15:07):
to well, actually it was a prior drive. But like
these they were in this situation a couple of times
because of great puns and then the great punt, then
the turnover, and it wasn't util the third down after
the great punt that they were able to throw the
ball toward the sticks. And in that situation, Why would
I trust Mac Jones to do anything but hand the
ball off three times and at least make them burn
their timeouts, punt the ball down there, give them.
Speaker 2 (15:26):
You know, sixty yards or so to work toward to
get into field goal range.
Speaker 1 (15:31):
You know that their field goal unit's not good, and
exhaust them of their timeouts so that they at least
have to move up tempo and feel the pressure of
having to go no huddle and that sort of situation.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
It made sense.
Speaker 1 (15:40):
It's a tough situation to be in, but at that
point you're at risk management and with a three point
lead clinging to it on the road, even though it
was kind of a home environment, it made the most
sense to me, even if it was definitely not aggressive.
Speaker 4 (15:51):
And so the Rams get the ball back, there's a
Cardi field goal, we go into overtime. In overtime Mac
and CMC, there's another completion to Kendrick Bourne. Eddiep puts
one through and we're thinking, okay, Stafford and the Rams
get the ball back. They have an opportunity to go
and score, and then we get the sequence that ultimately
led to the game deciding play shook. There was a
(16:16):
we discussed before we got going here. Immediately after the game,
there's a third in short, they get not all of
the yards, it's a fourth and one. Ultimately for the game,
Sean McVay is calling the play immediate as soon as
the receiver catches the ball short of the line of
(16:38):
the game to play, calls immediately plays in motion. Kyle
Shanahan calls time out, they go to a different play.
What do you think took place there between Sean Sean
McVay and Kyle Shanahan and that timeout, because I think
that time out by the one in the game.
Speaker 2 (16:53):
Yeah, but I think did too.
Speaker 1 (16:54):
And I think your theory that we discussed before is
absolutely right that they were going to run the play
that they were in repeatedly to Cooper cuppin the Super Bowl,
and they have a guy to do that. They have
two guys that they can team up to make that
happen again in DeVonta Adams and Puku and Akula, And
I think they got the look that they wanted and
Kyle knew again this goes back to being from the
same coaching tree, having so much experience coaching against each other,
he knew exactly what was coming and he was going
(17:15):
to do everything within his power burn that last time
out to stop it from happening right before his eyes,
And yeah, I agree, because that time out forced Sean
to think twice to come out and try to draw
them off side, and.
Speaker 2 (17:28):
That didn't work.
Speaker 1 (17:29):
And at that point it gets weird because you're like, well,
I've already committed to going forward on fourth and one.
I've already taken the confidence out of my kicker's brain
that I think that he can kick it, even though
it was a makeable field goal. You're almost overly committed
to it, and you have to do it now. You've
already kind of sealed your own faith. The call itself
on fourth and short was very regrettable, and that doesn't
even come down to the results. It comes down to
(17:50):
the fact that you did not win the trench battle
for most of the night, save for when you had
some improvisation on the part of your running back and
the right side of their line gets completely caved in
by Mike gl William and kyram Winims.
Speaker 2 (18:01):
As soon as I saw it from the snap.
Speaker 1 (18:02):
The prime vision camera is directly over the play and
you can see the right side line just.
Speaker 2 (18:06):
Get caved in.
Speaker 1 (18:07):
And I'm like, as soon as the ball snapped and
they handed off, I've just been going nowhere, not gonna
get it.
Speaker 2 (18:12):
I've never had a chance.
Speaker 1 (18:13):
And I think that that was when Kyle and Sean
caught themselves in a staring match. Neither refused to blink,
and one of them paid the price for it.
Speaker 4 (18:22):
And these two have had some great ones. They've gone
back and forth, and it reminds me last year Shook
when there was a hurt Rams team they got an
out of nowhere win against the forty nine ers. The
roles have reversed. Yeah, forty just got their revenge and
they got to win. And the Rams will, you know,
have a chance to go on the road and take
(18:44):
on a hurt Ravens team, which you know a lot
of folks dealing with injuries right now on October twelfth,
and the forty nine ers are going to be on
the road to take on the Buccaneers on that same day.
The extra rests needed after this one because they got
the bonus football on Thursday night with with Al and
Kirk on the call and you know Sam on the
(19:05):
call for those of US ball knowers who are also
watching on Prime Vision, which is I mean Securior.
Speaker 5 (19:12):
Yeah. Before we say goodbye, you guys got to watch
the prime vision version of the broadcast.
Speaker 4 (19:17):
It's it's everything we wanted as children, and we get it.
Speaker 5 (19:22):
We get it once.
Speaker 1 (19:23):
I could, I could probably do without some of the
overlays following the players at certain certain instances, just because
it like complicates the picture a little bit. But everything
else is just You can see how defensive, how decent
defenses roll their shells and their coverages. The show quarters
they roll it to three. You see a safety come
down and try to play the robber. You can see stunts.
You can see how prestat motion diagnoses man and how
(19:46):
they instantly have guys open the rams are the forty
nine ers. Sam comes on and starts talking about how
down here the forty nine ers like to run condensed
sets and target outside the numbers, and they instantly go
to bourn for a completion that sets them up for
a first down and an opportunity to get some points
on the board.
Speaker 2 (19:59):
And I'm like, they, this is beautiful when it happens,
because he's right.
Speaker 1 (20:02):
He goes back to it again and it doesn't quite
work out for them, but I'm like this is the
marriage of analytics and advanced metrics, scouting and watching it
all play out in real time, and I think it's
such an informative tool. This game itself is so worth watching,
going back and watching. If you have NFL Plus, watch
the Prime Vision replay of it, because it will help
you learn so much about the chess match that we
(20:24):
just watched, so much more than the traditional broadcast gives you.
And I think it's just a great example of how
two coaches can go back and forth in a game
and you can watch it all unfold before your eyes.
And it also makes you realize how fast these games go,
because when you're watching on TV, you're seeing shots of
the sideline shots, the coach, shots of fans, and then
they're breaking the huddle.
Speaker 2 (20:41):
That's not really happening.
Speaker 1 (20:42):
When you're watching Prime Vision and you realize, oh my god,
this play clock those thirty seconds is for real between
these two guys. And I want to make one last
note because the story at halftime was all about Mac Jones,
and an essential reason why the Niners won this game
is because of the play of Mac Jones. It's also
because of how Kyle Shanahan schemed up to get Matt comfortable,
(21:04):
but I don't think it happens if he doesn't have
his old Patriots teammate Kendrick Bourne out there, because they
hooked up for ten catches for one hundred and forty
two yards and he was an absolutely vital part of
this offense. And it just goes to show that even
when you're without your top two, top three receivers, who
want to count Brandon Ayuk, that guy you picked up
because the Patriots let go can play a huge role
in your offense.
Speaker 2 (21:23):
And a lot of it has to do with familiarity
in a big spot.
Speaker 4 (21:25):
Yeah, a key part because I remember there was the
game before Kendrick Bourne signed and they asked Kyle in
the post game, you know what's going on with Kendrick Bourne.
It's like, we tried, and I'm assuming Kendrick was telling them,
you know, yesterday's price was not the day's price, and
ultimately they found the correct price that led to a
win on Thursday Night Football. Thank you to Guy Hiberman
(21:48):
and Tim Ryan of KSFO for the calls a spectacular
win for the forty nine ers of the spectacular football
game for us all to watch again on Prime Vision
won't be going into work on Friday and talking about
the forty nine.
Speaker 5 (22:02):
Ers wanting it more. You can talk about.
Speaker 6 (22:05):
Manipulating the middle of the field defender within his couch
for Nick shuk playbook Forward wrapping up these games or
Week five coming up on Sunday.
Speaker 5 (22:17):
Enjoying the rest of your Friday. See from the football
team right
Stafford gets under center at the eleven yard line.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
He takes it, he turns, he gives the Karen Williams,
he gets packed.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
I think he's short, Tim, I think he's short.
Speaker 3 (00:09):
And the forty nine ers start in the field.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
It is all over.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
The forty doers have won it in over time here
in La.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
What an unbelievable win. High drama finishes in favor.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
Look a mass unit, the forty nine ers, and they
earned it.
Speaker 4 (00:27):
The mass unit forty nine ers do get it done.
We'll put an asterisk on that urn because the Rams
made a lot of mistakes. Welcome in to NFL Daily
Thursday night.
Speaker 5 (00:36):
Football recap after claybound here with Nick.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
Shook joining you for the comfort of our homes in
a game that was in my adopted home of Los Angeles, California,
where the forty nine ers should come up with an
improbable win against the Rams, but.
Speaker 5 (00:49):
Matthew Stafford falls to one in four. It's so far.
Speaker 4 (00:53):
Against Kyle Shanahan and these forty nine ers. Good to
see you, man, What a finish, what a game?
Speaker 1 (00:58):
Yeah, good to see you too. I'm trying to think
about one in fourth so far against Kyle Shanahan. That
one game he won would have been the NFC Championship game,
the way to those Super Bowl victory.
Speaker 4 (01:07):
I believe, so if I'm going to check that, uh
while we do this, But yeah, the one being a doozy,
the one.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
That mattered, but the other ones, Yeah.
Speaker 5 (01:15):
There's some weird ones in there, and this was one
of them.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
Yeah, this was definitely weird. I mean, I feel like
this was a bit of a marathon. It was an
odyssey of sorts. I felt like I needed a nap
after it was over. And it was also a fantastic
chess match. I think of two coaches from the same tree.
And again another great example of why we I wish
we could have every game in prime vision because it
just opens up what you can see and what you
(01:39):
could see. There was then both using their approaches that
whether they're going to come into tight formation and try
to capitalize outside the numbers, whether they're going to motion
a lot, whether they're going to capitalize on one defense
suddenly switching the man in the fourth quarter and victimizing
you with DeVante Adams, with some potentially illegal slash, illegal
screens like setting some natural rubs, all sorts of different things.
It was just back and forth chess match. Chess piece
(02:00):
moved here, another piece moved here. Felt like I was
sitting in a park and guys are making a move
and hitting the clock like it was. It was a
fantastic back and forth, A really entertaining game, got weird
at times to finish, a little anti climactic depending on
who you were rooting for, I suppose, but a doozy
of a Thursday night football game that may make us
reconsider the state of the NFC West.
Speaker 5 (02:21):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (02:21):
Absolutely, again, a game that I thought was gonna be
a rock fight show. It was gonna be fifteen to twelve. Ultimately,
they were going up and down the field, and so
let's look at the history on those chess moves and
start this game with There's there's dealing, and then there's
how Mac Jones started the game. On the first two drives,
he completed eleven of thirteen passes, one to Jake Toon
just for a touchdown. Another one where coming into this game,
(02:43):
considering the injuries and the way Kendrick Borden had played
for shout out for what we'll.
Speaker 5 (02:47):
Discuss as the game goes on.
Speaker 4 (02:49):
I thought this was going to be all CMC and
it started with a touchdown pass to Christian McCaffrey and
let's let's watch it.
Speaker 5 (02:56):
Listen. I love the map too.
Speaker 1 (02:58):
McCaffrey's got right now, Max Shawn's closed mcafe.
Speaker 5 (03:02):
He's got it.
Speaker 6 (03:04):
Touchdown, touchdown, touchdown forty and it's a two scored lead
here early in the second quarter.
Speaker 4 (03:13):
All Niners at that point shook. And when the call
can see the matchup on the goal line and everybody knows,
you know it's not you don't want to be out
there all along with twenty three surprise surprise, the results.
Speaker 5 (03:24):
Of the touchdown. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
Yeah, it's a very standard roll out play that you
run on the goal line. You just hope to create
enough of a crease that your defenders never going to
catch up and undercut that play, And of course that's
what happened. But it really set an early shocking tone
that the forty nine ers were able to grab a
fourteen to nothing advantage.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
It felt like they had.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
Prepared perfectly for what they were going to deal with
in terms of disadvantageous circumstances, not having brock Party, not
having Juwan Jennings, not having Ricky Piersoll and being forced to.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
Play with Mac Jones, who, by the way, a couple of.
Speaker 1 (03:52):
Weeks ago suffered a knee injury that he was dealing
with against the Cardinals that limited him in that game. Now,
they didn't need him last week, but they certainly needed
him tonight and he needs his inner strength to be
able to get through this game. So it was really
important for them to get off to that hot start.
They basically realized, we're going to take what the defense
gives us. We're going to move down the field efficiently,
and I think it caught the Rams by surprise for
almost two full quarters before they could kind of figure,
(04:14):
you know, regain their bearings and figure out how are
we going to counter this, And that's when the chess
match really began.
Speaker 4 (04:20):
Yeah, And one of those finding their bearings was a
simple toss play from Stafford to Blake Korn. It gets
credited as a Stafford fumble, but Blake got caught looking
for his future instead of the football and it results
in a turnover that the forty nine ers are able
to enjoy that CMC touchdown off. So at that point
fourteen nothing again, Mac Jones is dealing and Kendrick Bourne
(04:41):
catches a couple of drives on the draft on catch
a couple of balls on the drive, and then there's
a third down where he just puts one on the
turf and there's life for the Rams. They come back
and score on a drive where Stafford uses Ferguson on
third down hits Kyen Williams for a thirteen yard scorer.
From that point on, so like, we have a really
solid middle of the football game for both teams.
Speaker 1 (05:03):
Yeah, and that was when I feel like, like you said,
new life and really an opportunity for them to get
back into this game. What's funny too, is there was
another sequence where the Niners had a chance to potentially
go up twenty one to seven, and instead they get
they are limited to a seventeen to seven lead, and
then they actually they kick a field but they could
have been on twenty four to seven. They kick a
fiel able to make it twenty to seven, and that
was like one of those shifting points where you're like,
(05:24):
they get in the end zone here, this game m'd
be over and instead the Rams blow up and stop them.
But it was those those flash points within this game
where it just like the tides just rise and fell
rose and fell throughout this game. And yeah, it's it's
interesting because another thing that developed throughout this game that
I thought really changed the flow of it was the
trench play.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
I know that's like my thing, right, but early on, early.
Speaker 1 (05:49):
On, the Niners are destroying the Rams in the trenches.
They're getting great searge, they're doing whatever they want. They
can't get pressure on Mac Jones, They're allowing him to
get those balls out quickly. And then by the second half,
the Rams wise, we have to change the way that
we're approaching this game. We have to move Jared Verse
into the A gap. We have to mug him in
the A gap and just confuse what Max Jones is
(06:11):
looking at. And that's another point in the game in
which it really changed. But yeah, the Rams needed that
first entry back into this game for it to even
be an entertaining contest.
Speaker 5 (06:20):
Yeah, there was.
Speaker 4 (06:21):
As we get into the second half, Nate Landman, great
night for him, but we love calling him. Land Man
makes great play on a third down where the forty
nine Ers ultimately had a fourth and one deep in
their own territory. Kyl Shanahank goes for it, but then
they get a little farther down the field, Landman makes
that play and then the ensuing drive is all Stafford
(06:45):
to Davonte. This is that connection where you know, there
may have been some boget illegal screens out there to
kind of free up Davante, you know, at this point
the second half. But you really saw that connection really
start to get going in the middle part of the
second half, and it leads to a touchdown, but Cardy
(07:06):
comes out the extra points no good, and we all
put a pin in that one because it just felt
like at that point that would have given the Rams
a one point lead, like this is going to come
back and absolutely brutalized lossing.
Speaker 5 (07:18):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
Yeah, the Rams were kind of peeking around the curtain
with their failure in the detailed department. There would be
There was a sequence earlier in the game where they
had three drops in a row that killed one of
their drives. Quorum dropped one of the flats, Kyra Williams
dropped one that would have been a first down. They
were missing tackles pretty consistently. They're just the little detailed
things they were.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
Not doing well.
Speaker 1 (07:38):
And then the ugly head rears itself again and that
is their field goal. Unit has not been consistent when
it comes to blocking this season. That was their fourth
kick block this season. We know what happened in Philly
with a two kicksblock. They had one blocked against the Titans.
This one keeps it a tie game and makes us
all realize, oh, we're in for one now instead of
a one point advantage, we are firmly in the potential
(08:00):
overtime zone, which is exactly what we ended up getting.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
But yeah, it was the details. It was the details.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
And also on that drive, I love the way that
this game unfolded because for most of the night the
Niners are playing zone and for some reason they go
to man in that drive and Adams just completely torches them.
It's just Stafford and Adams like he's running great routes,
he's separating from a rookie corner. He's we've got a
dime from Stafford over the mill in between two defenders
(08:25):
to Adams who broke free from another defender. And I
think even Herbstreet mentioned on the collees. Now they're suddenly
running in and it's killing them, and I don't think
they did it very long. In fact, according to next Gen,
they only ran man coverage on ten total defensive plays,
and I can see why, but it was a great
opportunity for the Rams to get back in the game
and for Sean mcvagh to quickly identify that and work
in tandem with this quarterback to get DeVante Adams open,
which opened up the rest of their offense because for
(08:46):
a while too, Pukanakool was not a major factor in
this game. And then all kind of changed in the
second half.
Speaker 4 (08:52):
Yeah, especially in the second half over on the Rams
defensive side of the ball on Bradon Fisk had a
good shot on mac Jones in the the red zone
on we ultimately was the scoring drop for the forty
nine ers. Young as well as Turner all got hits
on mac Jones that started to really accumulate on the quarterback.
Speaker 5 (09:11):
At one point I wondered if his knee.
Speaker 4 (09:12):
Brace shook had actually stabbed him in the calf, and
that's what was what he was reacting to, as you know,
a burst lands on top of him. And so the
fourth the Brams were able to get a stop, so
a tie, tie game eight minutes to go in the
third quarter, a crucial third and one. And it's back
to those details. We were talking about shook because Davante
and Stafford are on different pages on an option route
(09:35):
and they wind up punting the ball away. And I
wonder how you felt about that play call, because I mean,
it's two vets, two guys who maybe going to Canton.
You just you take that l when you can get
a chick.
Speaker 5 (09:48):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
I'm so glad that you brought this up, because that
was the stretch in the game in which I felt
Sean McVay, like many Madden players, for example, fell in
love with the past too much. He went away from
the run way too heavy in that stretch of time.
And I think it was because it worked so well
in the previous drive that they're like, let's just keep
riding the hot hand. And there was a pass I
think on that drive early in that sequence where he
(10:09):
misses downfield where you're like, why are you taking a
shot fifteen yards down the field when it's first and ten.
I guess I understand that if you're you know, if
the passing game is heating up, but second and third down,
they're still throwing. They're still throwing, they're still throwing, and
they just became unbalanced, and I think that really pained
them in that stretch and allowed because it was a
back and forth they they punned away pretty quickly.
Speaker 2 (10:26):
The Niners punted it away pretty quickly.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
There was a bit of a stalemate between the two
sides where I felt they both kind of got out
of their comfort zone, out of their rhythm and had
to reset, And luckily they did because it set up
for a great final quarter.
Speaker 4 (10:37):
Yeah, that final quarter after Stafford and DeVante can't link up.
It's a spectacular punt so far as going nuts there
at the two yard line. And then we get the
mac Jones drive. Shook, the absolute mac Jones drive, which
includes dump offs to see them see a couple of
balls to Kendrick Bourne and Eddip you know, making a kick.
Speaker 5 (10:56):
His eyes getting big as saucers.
Speaker 4 (10:58):
He's talking to everybody saying, just doing what Eddie Pinero
does at this point, but the Rams get the ball,
they have an opportunity and Alfred Collins, the rookie out
of Texas, makes the play of the game on Kira
Williams at the gold line. Stafford takes gives kyon Williams
(11:18):
and he.
Speaker 5 (11:19):
Is he fumbled it. The Niners are.
Speaker 4 (11:23):
Saying they got it.
Speaker 3 (11:25):
The play was shy in the line to gain wait
for a signal.
Speaker 4 (11:28):
They're unpiling everybody at the one.
Speaker 1 (11:30):
The forty nine ers come out of there, Alfred Collins
has the football.
Speaker 4 (11:42):
And so that it with so many of these fumble situations,
you know, you get the shot of Kira Williams getting
brutalized over just doing it to himself on the sideline's
beside himself. I'm of the mindset when al Collins not
only hits the ball there, he hits the ball and
follow through he essentially bunch a Kyra Williams in the face.
That was just a great defensive play where it's not
(12:05):
like Kyra Williams wasn't protecting the football. It's just a
big man got a great shot on the ball in
a big moment and also recovered it.
Speaker 5 (12:12):
Just a huge play by the room.
Speaker 1 (12:14):
We all need to take a moment to thank Charles
Peanut Tillman for his impact on the game. He's been
retired for a while now, but it is evident in
the way guys tackle every Sunday in every game, and
this is the third time I can think of a
running back getting the ball punched out in almost the
exact same way on the goal line.
Speaker 2 (12:30):
In the last two weeks.
Speaker 1 (12:31):
It happened to Remindra Stevenson against the Steelers in Week three,
it happened to Braylen Allen against the Dolphins on Monday
Night at the end of Week four. And now we
go into Week five and you see it in the
first game of that week, and it's a crucial play
because if he scores there, I think that game is
largely over unless the Niners can find a way to
get down the field, which I don't think they were
going to be able to. And this is just an
(12:51):
example of how these Niners, all these injuries that that
they've suffered, like they are a walking, traveling mass unit,
and yet somehow guys step up and make plays in
clutch situations like that. It is an absolutely phenomenal tackle,
one of the best plays you're ever going to see
from an interior defensive lineman with the game on the line,
coming in from behind and knocking out and then also
(13:11):
recovering it. And I think it was so shocking in
the moment, but it was also at the end of
a sequence in which the Rams had all the momentum
behind them. They were cruising down the field, Stafford's hitting atoms,
He's hitting Puka Hirom Williams bounce as a run that
was supposed to go left to the right side for
a twenty yard game, they looked destined for the end zone.
Speaker 2 (13:31):
The Niners could not stop them.
Speaker 1 (13:32):
And with three feet between the Rams and the lead
and possibly a win, the Niners find a way to
respond and keep this thing in a close game.
Speaker 4 (13:40):
There was daylight between Karen Williams and the end zone.
If Collins does not get that ball out, yeah, because
Collins not only got the ball back, but he prevented
the touchdown because Williams was going in. And you know,
those who believe in the MO might ask why it
did not provide the Rams with a touchdown, because you
have to make the plays. You have to do the
(14:02):
things the preceding plays can't make the subsequent play for you.
In Alfred Collins understood that, understands that, and yeah, shout
out to Charles P. Nutt Tillman, who recently left cash
Bettel's FBI not necessarily aligning with its vision for law enforcement.
And so at that point, the forty nine ers get
(14:22):
the ball back. Yeah, congratulations. The problem is the Rams
had all three of their timeouts, and Kyle Shanahan with it,
a quarterback who has struggled to get on and off
the field, shook at that point, Alex to be very conservative.
I also wonder how you feel about that series from
the forty nine ers where they essentially ran about twelve
seconds off of the clock and got Stafford the ball
(14:44):
back around midfield.
Speaker 1 (14:45):
Yeah. I mean, the entire passing game, the whole evening
was predicated on getting the ball out quickly. But when
you're backed up against you're on goalpost, you're on the
one yard line. The Rams have no reason to respect
the deep shot when they know that you have no
room to navigate in the pocket and find something deep.
So they're going to play press coverage, they're going to
create tight passing windows. And it wasn't until that third
down where they got the ball out and got closer
(15:07):
to well, actually it was a prior drive. But like
these they were in this situation a couple of times
because of great puns and then the great punt, then
the turnover, and it wasn't util the third down after
the great punt that they were able to throw the
ball toward the sticks. And in that situation, Why would
I trust Mac Jones to do anything but hand the
ball off three times and at least make them burn
their timeouts, punt the ball down there, give them.
Speaker 2 (15:26):
You know, sixty yards or so to work toward to
get into field goal range.
Speaker 1 (15:31):
You know that their field goal unit's not good, and
exhaust them of their timeouts so that they at least
have to move up tempo and feel the pressure of
having to go no huddle and that sort of situation.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
It made sense.
Speaker 1 (15:40):
It's a tough situation to be in, but at that
point you're at risk management and with a three point
lead clinging to it on the road, even though it
was kind of a home environment, it made the most
sense to me, even if it was definitely not aggressive.
Speaker 4 (15:51):
And so the Rams get the ball back, there's a
Cardi field goal, we go into overtime. In overtime Mac
and CMC, there's another completion to Kendrick Bourne. Eddiep puts
one through and we're thinking, okay, Stafford and the Rams
get the ball back. They have an opportunity to go
and score, and then we get the sequence that ultimately
led to the game deciding play shook. There was a
(16:16):
we discussed before we got going here. Immediately after the game,
there's a third in short, they get not all of
the yards, it's a fourth and one. Ultimately for the game,
Sean McVay is calling the play immediate as soon as
the receiver catches the ball short of the line of
(16:38):
the game to play, calls immediately plays in motion. Kyle
Shanahan calls time out, they go to a different play.
What do you think took place there between Sean Sean
McVay and Kyle Shanahan and that timeout, because I think
that time out by the one in the game.
Speaker 2 (16:53):
Yeah, but I think did too.
Speaker 1 (16:54):
And I think your theory that we discussed before is
absolutely right that they were going to run the play
that they were in repeatedly to Cooper cuppin the Super Bowl,
and they have a guy to do that. They have
two guys that they can team up to make that
happen again in DeVonta Adams and Puku and Akula, And
I think they got the look that they wanted and
Kyle knew again this goes back to being from the
same coaching tree, having so much experience coaching against each other,
he knew exactly what was coming and he was going
(17:15):
to do everything within his power burn that last time
out to stop it from happening right before his eyes,
And yeah, I agree, because that time out forced Sean
to think twice to come out and try to draw
them off side, and.
Speaker 2 (17:28):
That didn't work.
Speaker 1 (17:29):
And at that point it gets weird because you're like, well,
I've already committed to going forward on fourth and one.
I've already taken the confidence out of my kicker's brain
that I think that he can kick it, even though
it was a makeable field goal. You're almost overly committed
to it, and you have to do it now. You've
already kind of sealed your own faith. The call itself
on fourth and short was very regrettable, and that doesn't
even come down to the results. It comes down to
(17:50):
the fact that you did not win the trench battle
for most of the night, save for when you had
some improvisation on the part of your running back and
the right side of their line gets completely caved in
by Mike gl William and kyram Winims.
Speaker 2 (18:01):
As soon as I saw it from the snap.
Speaker 1 (18:02):
The prime vision camera is directly over the play and
you can see the right side line just.
Speaker 2 (18:06):
Get caved in.
Speaker 1 (18:07):
And I'm like, as soon as the ball snapped and
they handed off, I've just been going nowhere, not gonna
get it.
Speaker 2 (18:12):
I've never had a chance.
Speaker 1 (18:13):
And I think that that was when Kyle and Sean
caught themselves in a staring match. Neither refused to blink,
and one of them paid the price for it.
Speaker 4 (18:22):
And these two have had some great ones. They've gone
back and forth, and it reminds me last year Shook
when there was a hurt Rams team they got an
out of nowhere win against the forty nine ers. The
roles have reversed. Yeah, forty just got their revenge and
they got to win. And the Rams will, you know,
have a chance to go on the road and take
(18:44):
on a hurt Ravens team, which you know a lot
of folks dealing with injuries right now on October twelfth,
and the forty nine ers are going to be on
the road to take on the Buccaneers on that same day.
The extra rests needed after this one because they got
the bonus football on Thursday night with with Al and
Kirk on the call and you know Sam on the
(19:05):
call for those of US ball knowers who are also
watching on Prime Vision, which is I mean Securior.
Speaker 5 (19:12):
Yeah. Before we say goodbye, you guys got to watch
the prime vision version of the broadcast.
Speaker 4 (19:17):
It's it's everything we wanted as children, and we get it.
Speaker 5 (19:22):
We get it once.
Speaker 1 (19:23):
I could, I could probably do without some of the
overlays following the players at certain certain instances, just because
it like complicates the picture a little bit. But everything
else is just You can see how defensive, how decent
defenses roll their shells and their coverages. The show quarters
they roll it to three. You see a safety come
down and try to play the robber. You can see stunts.
You can see how prestat motion diagnoses man and how
(19:46):
they instantly have guys open the rams are the forty
nine ers. Sam comes on and starts talking about how
down here the forty nine ers like to run condensed
sets and target outside the numbers, and they instantly go
to bourn for a completion that sets them up for
a first down and an opportunity to get some points
on the board.
Speaker 2 (19:59):
And I'm like, they, this is beautiful when it happens,
because he's right.
Speaker 1 (20:02):
He goes back to it again and it doesn't quite
work out for them, but I'm like this is the
marriage of analytics and advanced metrics, scouting and watching it
all play out in real time, and I think it's
such an informative tool. This game itself is so worth watching,
going back and watching. If you have NFL Plus, watch
the Prime Vision replay of it, because it will help
you learn so much about the chess match that we
(20:24):
just watched, so much more than the traditional broadcast gives you.
And I think it's just a great example of how
two coaches can go back and forth in a game
and you can watch it all unfold before your eyes.
And it also makes you realize how fast these games go,
because when you're watching on TV, you're seeing shots of
the sideline shots, the coach, shots of fans, and then
they're breaking the huddle.
Speaker 2 (20:41):
That's not really happening.
Speaker 1 (20:42):
When you're watching Prime Vision and you realize, oh my god,
this play clock those thirty seconds is for real between
these two guys. And I want to make one last
note because the story at halftime was all about Mac Jones,
and an essential reason why the Niners won this game
is because of the play of Mac Jones. It's also
because of how Kyle Shanahan schemed up to get Matt comfortable,
(21:04):
but I don't think it happens if he doesn't have
his old Patriots teammate Kendrick Bourne out there, because they
hooked up for ten catches for one hundred and forty
two yards and he was an absolutely vital part of
this offense. And it just goes to show that even
when you're without your top two, top three receivers, who
want to count Brandon Ayuk, that guy you picked up
because the Patriots let go can play a huge role
in your offense.
Speaker 2 (21:23):
And a lot of it has to do with familiarity
in a big spot.
Speaker 4 (21:25):
Yeah, a key part because I remember there was the
game before Kendrick Bourne signed and they asked Kyle in
the post game, you know what's going on with Kendrick Bourne.
It's like, we tried, and I'm assuming Kendrick was telling them,
you know, yesterday's price was not the day's price, and
ultimately they found the correct price that led to a
win on Thursday Night Football. Thank you to Guy Hiberman
(21:48):
and Tim Ryan of KSFO for the calls a spectacular
win for the forty nine ers of the spectacular football
game for us all to watch again on Prime Vision
won't be going into work on Friday and talking about
the forty nine.
Speaker 5 (22:02):
Ers wanting it more. You can talk about.
Speaker 6 (22:05):
Manipulating the middle of the field defender within his couch
for Nick shuk playbook Forward wrapping up these games or
Week five coming up on Sunday.
Speaker 5 (22:17):
Enjoying the rest of your Friday. See from the football
team right
Host
Gregg Rosenthal
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Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.