Finest performances for San Francisco

Sometimes star players take over games in such a way that soccer feels less than a team sport. That’s not the case when the 49ers get rolling like they did in Los Angeles on Sunday.

In the course of their 27-24 overtime win over the Rams, a number of players stood out in all three phases. Usually we’ll go through the aftermath of the game and pick out some good and some bad accomplishments. However, after Sunday’s win there were too many good and important appearances to spend time picking out the bad.

Here are some of the top performances that helped pull the 49ers out of a 17-0 hole into the playoffs:

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Playing through a thumb injury, Garoppolo overcame a miserable start to finish 23-32 for 316 with a touchdown and two interceptions. The picks were suboptimal, but his ability to knock the ball across the field at key points and lead San Francisco to a touchdown in the late fourth quarter to send the game into overtime and then lead a scoring drive in OT, cannot be overlooked. He exceeded his own mistakes on Sunday – and good QBs do that.

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Sunday was perhaps the best game of Armstead’s career. He posted 2.5 sacks and a team high seven print. Armstead was also an integral part of the 49ers’ run defense, which gave up just 2.4 yards per carry in 27 tries for Los Angeles. San Francisco’s overall DL was a good Sunday, but Armstead stood out as the best.

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Gould hit both of his field goals, including the game winner and all three of his extra points. He did so without his usual keeper, punter Mitch Wishnowsky, who left the game in the first quarter after taking a headshot on a punt return. That brought Gould into the punter duties as well, where he averaged 45.0 yards on two punts, the first being within the 20. It was a great performance by the veteran kicker.

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Samuel’s 2021 campaign reached the point of absurdity where his giant games are no longer registered. He had 45 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown, 95 received yards on four catches, and he threw a 24-yard TD pass to WR Jauan Jennings. He also got away with a 43-yard catch-and-run that kicked off the game-binding touchdown at the end of the fourth quarter. There may not be a more effective WR in the NFL.

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Jennings was the 49ers’ best player against the Rams. He scored six catches for 94 yards and two touchdowns, and received a team high run blocking score of 89.6 from Pro Football Focus. His blocking ability will always make him a factor in Kyle Shanahan’s offensive, but adding some reception productions could make him a more important element moving forward.

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Somehow, Aiyuk puts together the calmest good games in the NFL. He left Sunday six catches for 107 yards as he continued his climb to the top of the 49er passing attack. Aiyuk’s ability to stretch the field vertically, but also to make an impact after the catch, makes him an extremely dangerous player when combined with Deebo Samuel and George Kittle.

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Moseley didn’t seem to miss a beat in his first game after a high ankle sprain that failed him for four games. He was sighted three times, allowing only two catches for 18 yards, and he pulled an interception on a deep shot from Rams QB Matthew Stafford. The 49ers need Moseley to play well and he looked like CB number 1 on Sunday.

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This was a huge game for Thomas who was able to intercept the game in overtime. That wasn’t his only notable achievement, however. The third round rookie pick held its own after missing practice all week due to COVID-19 logs. He allowed 41 yards and three catches on five targets. PFF had him allowed down for two TDs but the first he and the rest of the defense faked on a goal-line game and the second he had great coverage of TE Tyler Higbee but couldn’t outdo the bigger player on the PBU. Overall, it was a very positive game for Thomas on a large court.

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The key could be the Shanahan-John Lynch era best off-season. He made for four prints, a sack, two QB hits and a rush in another strong performance. He has up to 6.5 sacks this season and was arguably the 49ers’ second most effective defensive lineman against the Rams.

(AP photo / Kelvin Kuo)

McKivitz wasn’t great in a vacuum, but that requires us to ignore the context. Under these circumstances, the sophomore offensive lineman was very good. He was pushed into the starting position on the left with an elbow injury by LT Trent Williams. McKivitz had never tackled an NFL game before and his performance was pretty good. He allowed a pair of sacks and four prints, but overall he held the position and kept the Rams from completely ruining the game on his side.