Photo credit: @49ers

By: Joe Lami

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — The expectations for the 49ers heading into Sunday’s contest against the undefeated Rams at Levi’s Stadium were low. Yet, San Francisco still failed to meet them after getting destroyed by Los Angeles 39-10 to drop their fifth straight.

Turnovers continue to be the driving force of mediocrity, as the 49ers coughed the ball up four more times. Three of which came from CJ Beathard, who fumbled once and was picked off twice. The Rams also capitalized, scoring 24 points off turnovers on Sunday.

Not everything can be put on Beathard since he was sacked eight times and hit a total of 11 times.

Aaron Donald led the way for the Rams with an insane game, as he completely dominated the line, finishing with nine tackles, four sacks, five QB hits, and six tackles for loss.

Despite the line entirely getting owned all game, Beathard did nothing to better his circumstances and looked as frozen as the Joe Montana and Dwight Clark statues erected at Levi’s to commemorate “The Catch” on Sunday.

“[The turnovers] are something I need to find out. It’s inexcusable,” said 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan.

However, that should’ve happened weeks ago. The 49ers now stand in dead last in the NFL in turnover differential, now -15 in just seven weeks and are now on pace to be one of the worst teams in NFL history.

The lone bright spot on offense was once again George Kittle. The tight end caught five passes for 98 yards and San Francisco’s lone touchdown just before the half.

It’s a good thing Kittle showed up too because the wide receivers were nowhere to be seen catching a total of four passes for 35 yards between Goodwin, Garcon, and Taylor.

The defense wasn’t horrible for San Francisco but also received zero help from the offense. They held the Rams offense to 331 total yards, but mostly because of the great field position handed to them.

Jarred Goff made his return to the Bay, passing for 202 yards on 18 completions and two touchdowns. He spread the ball around with Robert Woods, and Brandin Cooks each catching four balls for 65 and 63 yards respectively.

Todd Gurley rushed the ball 15 times for 63 yards and two scores. He also was featured a lot in the passing game, catching four passes for 23 yards and a score.

The 49ers learned how much further they need to go before they’re even considered a contender after being embarrassed by the best team in the league. But, hey. It could’ve been worse. At least this game was flexed out of primetime.

Injuries
Rueben Foster sprained his right shoulder in the fourth quarter. It’s the same shoulder he had surgery on in the off-season. Hopefully, it’s not severe.

Adrian Colbert got carted off the field in the third quarter with an ankle sprain but was later seen on the sidelines wearing a baseball cap.

Up Next
The 49ers head to State Farm Stadium to take on the Cardinals next Sunday at 1:25 pm PT on FOX.