Despite their 27-20 loss to the Washington Redskins in week 2, the Los Angeles Rams can feel better before their showdown with the San Francisco 49ers in Santa Clara tonight because Todd Gurley finally showed signs of life as he finished with 88 rushing yards, 48 receiving yards and scored two touchdowns in the losing effort.
The Rams leading rusher averaged 5.5 yards per carry and 156 yards from scrimmage against the Redskins and currently ranks fourth in the NFL with 232 total yards.
In the passing game, the Rams’ Jared Goff still has to prove he deserves to be the starter for this club as he completed 15-of-25 passes for 224 yards, one touchdown and one interception against a Redskins defense that allows 344 passing yards per game and ranks 28th against the pass in the league. If he fails to be more productive against the 49ers it will be tough to see him have a breakthrough year this season.
Consider that the Indianapolis Colts, the Rams week 1 opponents, are ranked 30th against the pass and despite passing for over 300 yards Goff also managed one touchdown against them.
Goff is finding ways to complete tougher passes and has been throwing down the field more, but he’s done it against soft defenses. If he can do that against tougher opponents there may be cause for hope for the Rams.
It will be tough for the Rams to feel confident when they have to face better teams if Goff can’t produce more than one touchdown per game against some of the worst passing defenses in the league.
San Francisco quarterback Brian Hoyer has bigger problems to worry about as his field vision has been poor so far. Against the Seahawks, he missed some open receivers and instead decided to throw into double coverage because he fails to scan the entire field before making the throws.
Hoyer’s problems were evident on third down as the 49ers converted just 2 of 12 because he failed to find and hit open receivers and be aware of where the defenders were.
For the Niners, running back Carlos Hyde had a field game in week 2 against the Seattle Seahawks running for 124 yards in a 12-9 losing effort.
Hyde loves running against the Seahawks in Seattle, where the Seahawks have allowed just five 100-yard rushing games in the last five years and Hyde has accounted for two of those games.
In this game, San Francisco will try to use Hyde more against the Rams 30th ranked rushing defense to control the time of possession and keep their defense off the field, but if Hoyer fails to step up again, the Rams might end up winning this matchup anyway.
