SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Four days after the Rams’ prettiest win of the season came their ugliest.
No touchdowns. A first quarter with four punts and zero first downs. A couple of would-be interceptions that clanked off the hands of San Francisco defenders.
But weirdly, the lumbering 12-6 victory over the 49ers might wind up being far more valuable than the gaudy 44-42 triumph over Buffalo last Sunday.
Of course beating San Francisco carries more weight because the 49ers are an NFC West opponent, but it’s more than that. The Rams needed to know they could win in the slop, with their offense misfiring, and on a field where they have suffered so many bitter defeats.
Take it from Cooper Kupp, the All-Pro receiver who, on a night of slap-your-forehead statistics, didn’t have a catch. That’s almost inconceivable.
“Games like this create a belief,” Kupp said. “The best teams in this league have it, and the worst teams don’t. The Kansas City Chiefs in close games have this belief that they’re going to win. Then you’ve got teams that find ways to lose those games as well. That’s kind of the mindset shift that you have to have, the positive belief that you’re going to find a way to win.”
Big wins come in small packages. This was the first time in 152 meetings between these franchises that neither team scored a touchdown.
It’s also the first time in five seasons the Rams have sauntered away with a sweep.
“It means everything,” Rams running back Kyren Williams said of toppling the NFC West bully twice in a season. “On the way here, our pilot said, ‘Go sweep the Niners.’ And when he said that I was like, dang, we really could sweep the Niners. I don’t think I’ve done that since I’ve been here. So being able to do that, knowing how good of a team they are, and knowing the history of these two organizations, it’s huge.
“It shows that we’re the big brothers now.”
Another big brother is watching. By that I mean Seattle. The Seahawks, at 8-5, can reclaim a one-game lead over the Rams by beating Green Bay on Sunday night. That’s no small task, as the Packers have won seven of nine and barely lost last Sunday in a 34-31 thriller against Detroit.
There’s no easy path for the Seahawks. Their final three games are home against Minnesota, at Chicago and finally at the Rams, who already beat them on their home field.
The NFC West remains the most tightly knotted division top to bottom, but the dimmer switch is rapidly spinning in the wrong direction for San Francisco and Arizona.
These games are about belief and about finding a way to stay relevant. The Rams have done that, rebounding from a 1-4 start by winning seven of their last nine.
“This is what you work so hard for,” quarterback Matthew Stafford said. “I just think back on all the OTAs, all the August training camp days, all the early season injuries and struggles and things you’ve got to overcome to try to give yourself a chance to have an opportunity to play meaningful football in this month.”
Remember, he played 12 seasons for the Lions and went 0-3 in three playoff appearances on the road. It wasn’t until he came to Los Angeles that he experienced true postseason success.
“In my career I’ve had … quite a few Decembers that you were just trying to play good football to play good football,” he said. “We have an opportunity to keep our season alive every single time we go out there to play. It’s a whole lot of fun. Our team showed we can win football games about any way you want in a four-day span.”
Was this an ugly game for the Rams? Depends on how you look at it. Defensively, it was a gem. The 191 yards by the 49ers were the second fewest in the Kyle Shanahan era. San Francisco converted 25% of its third downs (three of 12), and the rain-soaked crowd seldom had anything to cheer.
Rams kicker Joshua Karty, who has struggled with consistency in his rookie season, made all four of his field-goal attempts in the sloppy conditions.
The Rams didn’t have an overwhelming ground game but they ground and ground. No one embodied that more than Williams, who had a career-high 29 carries in the Buffalo game, then did it again four days later against the 49ers. That’s like a pitcher going nine innings in back-to-back games.
For the first time in his career, he took off his gloves to get a better grip on the slippery football.
With three games to play, the gloves are off for all the Rams. They have knocked off their biggest nemesis and they’re beginning to believe they can make this season count.
