This surprising Niners team is making its own type of history

It doesn’t compare with the game that gave us The Catch. Nothing in the history of the San Francisco 49ers ever will. That changed everything.

And those five Super Bowl victories unquestionably will always rank high.

But what the Niners achieved Thursday night, all injured and battered, upsetting the Los Angeles Rams 26-23, in overtime, must be given its own place of importance.

This belief comes from a quite biased individual (blush!) who has followed the Niners from Grandstands, Press Boxes, and over TV screens, for more than a half century. 

An ordinary game? Hardly. Not when the Niners were missing numerous starters, including their quarterback Brock Purdy—and we know how significant a QB is in the NFL—had lost their previous game, looking decidedly ineffective, and were facing the rival and heavily favored Rams in Los Angeles.

The location may be the least meaningful part of this equation. Niners fans abound in Southern California, often overwhelming those cheering for the Rams. Two days before the game, the Los Angeles Times carried a story that the responsibility for this apparent disparity belonged to the late John McVay, grandfather of the current coach, Sean McVay. 

The Niners became the NFL’s dominant team in the 1980s when John McVay was the general manager, working with head coach Bill Walsh.

When the Rams shifted first to Anaheim, then to St. Louis, many of their fans, seeking not only a new team to support and, not the least, a championship one, adopted the Niners.

“I blame my grandpa,” Sean McVay said, not entirely serious.

That was three days ago. Thursday night, Sean McVay blamed himself for a call on a Rams failed fourth-and-one running play by Kyren Williams that the Niners stopped to end the game. 

That was just one of many strong defensive plays from the Niners, who, while supposedly outmanned, came up with big stops on defense and big go’s on offense.

If the Niners—playing without Brock Purdy, Jauan Jennings, George Kittle, Ricky Pearsall, and, on defense, Nick Bosa—are commended for their play, undeniably, Kyle Shanahan had to be for his coaching.

He called short passes from Matt Jones that compensated for the Niners' lack of a running attack. And in his third emergency start of this season, Jones was both tough—his forearm was cramping in the 4th quarter, but he worked it out—and brilliant, going 33 of 49 for 342 yards passing.  

“The guys were unbelievable,” said Shanahan. “Good team. They tightened it up. The D line stood up. Pulled this one out, and I was very impressed.”

He was not alone. The 4-1 Niners, off until playing the Bucs at Tampa Bay on Sunday, Oct. 12, moved into first place in the NFC West. 

One game later, and all the problems that plagued the Niners no longer were problems. They didn’t fumble, and they rarely missed a tackle. 

Who knows where this season is going? But the Niners have to be very much satisfied with the way it has gone.