A blocked extra point, a fumble on the one-yard line and a failed fourth-down conversion cost the Rams late against the 49ers, as they fell 26-23 to their division rival in overtime.
While those crunch time mistakes became the story of the game, there were some bright spots as well. Quarterback Matthew Stafford turned in another MVP-caliber performance, and the Rams' defense stuffed the run against an All-Pro back for the third-straight week.
Here are five interesting stats from the Rams' loss to San Francisco:
Stafford set his Rams career-high in passing yards (389) for the second-straight week
Last week, Stafford threw for 375 yards against the Colts in a comeback victory. Five days later, his 389 passing yards and three touchdowns weren't enough to secure a win over the 49ers. He also passed Philip Rivers for the eighth-most completions in NFL history.
Despite his big night statistically, Stafford said he wished he "could have done more" to help the team win.
On the 4th-and-1 in overtime, the Rams' win probability if they went for it was around 49.1%, compared to 38.6% if they tried for a field goal, according to Seth Walder of ESPN
There were varying degrees of confidence in the play call shown by players and coaches after the game, bit everyone liked the decision to go for the win, and the analytics agreed. According to Walder, the Rams needed at least a 52% chance of success on 4th-and-1 to justify going for it from an analytical perspective, which they had, needing just one yard to convert.
After the game, head coach Sean McVay said the run play was "a bad call," but never considered trying for a field goal, saying "We came in here to try to win the football game." Stafford didn't mind the play call and agreed that going for it was the right decision. "I mean, that's a bread-and-butter short-yardage call for us, so I didn't have any problem with it."
Stafford was only pressured on 20.8% of his dropbacks, the lowest mark of the season, via Next Gen Stats
The veteran's big day was aided by great offensive line play, despite the fact that two starters (Steve Avila and Rob Havenstein) didn't play due to injury. On the snaps where the pocket was kept clean, Stafford 24 of 38 attempts for 302 yards and three touchdowns. Both Warren McClendon Jr. (filling in for Havenstein at right tackle) and Justin Dedich (in for Avila at left guard) did more than enough to help the passing attack flourish.
It was the 10th-lowest pressure rate allowed on a quarterback in a game this season.
The Rams' 2.2 yards per carry allowed was the fifth-fewest in a game this season
49ers running back Christian McCaffrey carried the ball 22 times for 57 yards (2.5 yards per carry) with a long of eight. The Rams' front bottled him up all game long, not allowing any vertical seams and hitting him 0.3 yards behind the line of scrimmage on average, via Next Gen Stats.
L.A. has been put through the running back wringer and has risen to the occasion. Over the past three weeks, they've held Eagles running back Saquon Barkley, Colts star Jonathan Taylor and now McCaffrey to 179 total yards on 57 attempts (3.1 yards per carry). They all have different running styles and strengths, but the Rams' defense has found a way to contain each of them.
Tight end Terrance Ferguson's first career reception had a completion probability of just 27.6%, via Next Gen Stats, making it the most improbable completion of the game
On a 3rd-and-5, Ferguson ran a slot fade vs. man coverage and elevated over a safety to haul in his first career reception for a 21-yard gain. It was the same route he caught a pass on in his preseason debut against the Browns, but this one was a bit underthrown, and he had to adjust to make the grab.
On Monday, McVay said "We gotta be able to figure out a way to be able to get him going."
