49ers throttle Rams’ once-elite offense on Sean McVay’s ‘humbling day’

LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Rams dazzled the NFL with inventive, exciting offensive football during their first two seasons under coach Sean McVay.

Six games after being embarrassed in the Super Bowl, McVay’s high-flying offense has definitely crashed back down to earth.

The San Francisco 49ers emphasized that Sunday in a dominant defensive performance during their 20-7 victory at the Coliseum. Jared Goff passed for a career-low 78 yards, and the Rams (3-3) managed just 157 net yards while the Niners (5-0) leaped well ahead of the two-time defending division champions in the NFC West standings.

Los Angeles scored a touchdown on its opening drive, but was shut out thereafter. For a team that averaged 32.9 points and 421 yards per game last season, everything about it was a shocker.

“Was it a humbling day for us? Absolutely,” McVay said. “But it’s something that we’re going to learn from. We’re not going to let it demoralize us. They did a nice job. We didn’t do enough collectively.”

The league is no longer dazzled by the Rams, who have lost three straight for the first time in McVay’s tenure. Todd Gurley’s absence with a bruised thigh was a setback, but hardly a decisive factor in this poor effort.

Los Angeles produced a measly 3.1 yards per play against the Niners – and McVay’s offense only managed to run 50 plays while controlling the ball for just over 21 minutes, going 0-for-9 on third down and 0-for-4 on fourth down.

When Goff hit Gerald Everett for a 12-yard gain with 3:16 to play, it was the Rams’ longest passing play of the day.

“Teams have made adjustments to our offense, and we’ve got to be better and make some adjustments as well,” said Robert Woods, who was held without a catch.