RAMS BEAT 49ERS IN FIELD GOAL FRENZY ON THURSDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL
San Francisco, CA - The Rams took a must win game for the 49ers, 12-6, and it ended in more drama for head coach Kyle Shanahan to deal with off camera after the Rams swept them in the 2024 season.
The game ended without one touchdown being scored in the 60 minutes of play and the first game for both teams that resulted without a touchdown this season. Still Rams kicker Joshua Karty stepped up in a time of need for L.A. going 4/4 with his longest kick coming from 48 yards out.
Karty had struggled in the middle of the season with a few chipped shot field foals and extra points being missed by a wide margin, and resulted in the Rams going for more 4th down opportunities than they would have liked to. In the game against Buffalo the Rams elected to punt the ball away while in field goal range for an average NFL kicker.
Regardless, Karty was perfect from the spot yesterday and all while being in the heavy rain. This is just another example of a Rams team that has players step up when needed, and on a night where Karty needed to be money he was. He now holds an 80% field goal percentage and we will see how much is relied on him in the upcoming weeks.
In those next few games Rams fans are expecting a better opening performance from Matthew Stafford as he threw for only 29 yards in the first quarter against the 49ers. It was a confusing sight at first for L.A. as Stafford has arguably been one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL all year, and he isn’t given much credit due to his team’s record. However, Stafford is one of the best primetime quarterbacks the NFL could put on display but last night he had to hand off the torch to his young defense and rookie kicker to handle business.
Stafford has three more regular season games to go in 2024 as the Rams are currently tied with Seattle with 8 wins atop of the NFC West. The final game of the year is against Seattle, and if everyone plays their cards right we might have a nailbiter finish to see who will win the NFC West and claim a playoff berth in 2024.