No Brock Purdy — or Ricky Pearsall, or Jauan Jennings, or Nick Bosa, or George Kittle, or … the list goes on — no problem, at least through 30 minutes, for San Francisco. The 49ers lead the Rams 17-7 through two quarters, with Mac Jones dealing, Christian McCaffrey carrying the load and the defense playing well.
It’s been a terrific performance from Jones, who is already 2-0 this season as a starter in place of the injured Purdy. Across San Francisco’s first two drives, he connected on 11 of 13 passes for 131 and two touchdowns, the first to Jake Tonges from 6 yards out, the second a 1-yarder to McCaffrey. Overall, he is 15 for 23 for 179 yards, and he has not taken a sack or thrown an interception.
It’s been the McCaffrey show otherwise. He has 18 touches for 89 yards. And in the moments in which the Rams have limited him, Jones has come up with pinpoint passes.
Overall, the 49ers have a 17:55-12:05 advantage in terms of time of possession and a 233-137 yards advantage.
The Rams had a frustrating start: Their first drive yielded just one first down, and their second got deep into 49ers territory before Blake Corum mishandled a pitch from Matthew Stafford for a turnover. Los Angeles finally got its offense going shortly before halftime, with Matthew Stafford finding Kyren Williams out of the backfield for a 14-yard touchdown.
The 49ers put together a strong response, though, and got an Eddy Pineiro 37-yard field goal as time expired in the half.