The San Francisco 49ers remained the only unbeaten team in the NFC with a suffocating defensive performance on the road Sunday afternoon, shutting out the defending NFC champion Los Angeles Rams over the final 54 minutes in a 20-7 victory.
Tevin Coleman and Jimmy Garoppolo plunged for short touchdowns, and Robbie Gould kicked a pair of field goals as the 49ers (5-0) scored the game's final 20 points en route to their first victory against an NFC West opponent this season.
The 5-0 start is San Francisco's first since 1990.
Robert Woods scored on an 8-yard run for the Rams (3-3) in the game's sixth minute, but the Los Angeles offense managed just 165 total yards, leading to a third consecutive defeat.
After the Rams had scored on their opening possession, a drive that covered 56 yards in seven plays, the 49ers countered with a 2-yard score by Coleman late in the first quarter and a 1-yard sneak by Garoppolo early in the third for a 14-7 lead.
Gould's field goals were from 25 yards, later in the third quarter, and 34 yards in the fourth for the margin of victory.
The 49ers outgained the Rams 331-165 and dominated the time of possession, controlling the ball for 38:52 of the game's 60 minutes.
The San Francisco defense, which produced a record-low total of just seven turnovers last season, recovered a Jared Goff fumble to run this year's total of takeaways to 12 in five games.
The 49ers were coming off a 31-3 home win over Cleveland on Monday.
Garoppolo finished 24 of 33 for 243 yards with one interception. He hit eight different targets, including tight end George Kittle eight times for 103 yards.
Despite playing without injured running back Todd Gurley, the Rams got a majority of their offensive production on the ground, led by Malcolm Brown's 40 yards on 11 carries and Darrell Henderson Jr.'s 39 on six carries.
Goff, under constant pressure and sacked four times, was limited to 78 yards on 13-for-24 passing.
The seven-point total was the Rams' lowest since losing 13-3 to the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl in February.
--Field Level Media
San Francisco | L.A. Rams | |
Tevin Coleman | Player | Malcolm Brown |
18 | Attempts | 11 |
45 | Yards | 40 |
2.5 | Avg Yards | 3.6 |
1 | Touchdowns | 0 |
9 | Long | 10 |
San Francisco | L.A. Rams | |
George Kittle | Player | Tyler Higbee |
8 | Receptions | 3 |
103 | Yards | 25 |
12.9 | Avg Yards | 8.3 |
0 | Touchdowns | 0 |
45 | Long | 9 |
Yards | Scoring | Defense | ||||||
Team | Tot | Rus | Pas | TD | FG | INT | Sck | FF |
San Francisco | 331 | 99 | 232 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4.0 | 1 |
L.A. Rams | 157 | 109 | 48 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2.0 | 1 |