Week 4 of 2022 NFL season: Lessons from 49ers’ victory against Rams

• Week 4 of 2022 NFL season: Lessons from 49ers’ victory against Rams.
• Monday night’s performance being his greatest to yet.
• A promotion is overdue for DeMeco Ryans.

Week 4 of 2022 NFL season: Lessons from 49ers’ victory against Rams. A promotion is overdue for DeMeco Ryans. Given how productive his team has been in the first month of the season.

Monday night’s performance being his greatest to yet, it seems the defensive coordinator won’t be around for very long in San Francisco. By applying a lot of pressure and using a variety of tactics, Ryans took advantage of the Rams’ porous offensive line to overwhelm them with seven sacks.

The Rams’ offence was destroyed by Ryans’s defence, which held them to only 257 total yards and prevented them from reaching the end zone. Talanoa Hufanga, a budding star, delivered the decisive pick-six when it mattered most late on. The 49ers won’t always receive Jimmy Garoppolo’s best efforts, but if the defence continues to be this strong, they’ll have a chance in every game, and Ryans will find himself on the head-coaching interview circuit in 2023.

Rams’ offence is a complete mess. Sean McVay, who is regarded as an offensive genius, hasn’t come up with a solution to Los Angeles’ footballing problems. Due to the offensive line’s devastation by injuries, Matthew Stafford decided to chuck an incomplete pass to Cooper Kupp in double coverage on a key third-and-10 instead of waiting for one more beat to look to Allen Robinson.

Meanwhile, Los Angeles’ attack hasn’t demonstrated much of a rhythm, and Robinson is still having trouble fitting into it. Stafford’s only option in this offense right now is Kupp. And the running game is still nonexistent, accumulating only 57 yards collectively. That is the only reason for McVay ordering three consecutive passes in a goal-to-go situation from San Francisco’s 8-yard line, and it is deserving of a spot on the side of a milk carton.

Deebo Samuel is now the same as before. He never really departed, but the 49ers took advantage of their second consecutive prime-time game after failing to accomplish anything noteworthy only a week before. A short ball from Garoppolo that was almost intercepted was caught by Samuel, who then transformed into a tackle-breaking, nightmare-inducing machine, speeding down the field like a runaway 18-wheeler with a group of blockers following after.

On a night when Kyle Shanahan smartly concentrated on a short passing game and allowed the targets do the tough work, the play’s yards-after-catch total of 52 boosted Garoppolo’s final line. Samuel finished with six catches for 115 yards and a touchdown, so he had a lot to show for it. The YAC Bros. are back, as Garoppolo noted afterwards.

This is a thank-you point for Talanoa Hufanga. Hufanga has earned his own note despite being addressed in the opening point of this discussion. No 49ers defender has been more effective through the first month of the year, so it was a little odd that Hufanga hadn’t contributed much through the first three quarters of Monday night’s game.

He was, in fact, saving his best for last. Hufanga successfully read a receiver screen as the team clung to an eight-point lead in the fourth quarter. He jumped Stafford’s pass meant for Kupp, caught it while juggling it, and ran with it to the end zone. The Rams were defeated by Hufanga’s pick-six, and the rest of football was placed on notice. Hufanga is a game-changer and one of my favorite players to watch in the entire league in 2022, so you no longer need to watch the 49ers every week to know that.

The Rams won’t be able to endure the Bay Area once more. Los Angeles suffered its eighth consecutive regular-season defeat to the 49ers of their division on Monday night. They have a dismal record on the road versus the 49ers since 2008, going 3-11-1 when visiting the greater San Francisco region.

That was well before the Sean McVay era began, but no matter the quarterback, head coach, or home city (the Rams were based in St. Louis until 2016), they are unable to win in San Francisco. Even though there was only one game on Monday night, there is still a cause for concern for the Rams, who are currently tied with the 49ers and the rest of the NFC West at 2-2 but with many unanswered questions moving forward. The fact that the 49ers were defeated at home in the NFC Championship Game makes it challenging to defend a Super Bowl championship, and performances like this one don’t give fans much hope.

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