Was that only a game where the Los Angeles Rams defeated the 49ers 42-26, or was it a game-changer?

We’re aware in baseball that the Los Angeles Dodgers own the San Francisco Giants.  And in the NBA, more often than not, the Lakers take control of the Warriors. But if there was one place where a Northern California franchise was superior, it was in the NFL, where the Niners inevitably handled the Rams. 

That favorable result apparently is doomed to history, at least after Sunday’s seeming mismatch at Levi Stadium, the Rams leaping to a quick 21-0 lead.  

The 49ers were missing key defensive players, including Nick Bosa, who’s been out since Week three, linebacker Fred Warner, and rookie end Mykel Williams. Still, injuries are frequent in pro football, and good teams compensate for them.

The Niners, however, had no chance against a wonderfully offensive quarterback by Matthew Stafford. The veteran quarterback completed 24 of his 36 pass attempts for 280 yards—an overwhelming total—and four touchdowns.

The Niners couldn’t pressure Stafford, nor could they defend his receivers, a combination that not only proved the Rams to be a better team but proved destructive for San Francisco. If you can’t stop the opponent, you’ve got no chance, and the Niners couldn’t and didn’t.

It’s almost hard to believe that a month ago, San Francisco defeated the Rams down in LA, but that was before Stafford and his offensive line grew relentless. He has the time to throw, and with that time, he finds receivers and points.

Niners coach, Kyle Shanahan, had his reasons for the team dropping its first division game and falling to 6-4 overall, which at the moment, not quite at the halfway point of the schedule, would be out of the playoffs. 

“We could have made it a game,” said Shanahan, perhaps a bit unrealistically. “We had seven penalties in the first half. We had so many guys missing on defense. We can play better than we did today.”

You would hope so. But throughout the first few weeks of the season, they have lacked the consistency demonstrated by a solid team. And you can’t give the ball away on a fumble and an interception when the other team has no turnovers.

That the 49ers even made a game out of it should be considered significant, although when you are down 21-0, only minutes into the second quarter, the game virtually is over at that point.

Mac Jones started at quarterback again for the 49ers in place of Brock Purdy, the $50 million man with the injured toe, and Jones was more than competent, which is more than you can say for the defense. Jones, playing from behind the entire game, meaning he had to throw, completed 33 of 39 attempts for 319 yards and three touchdowns.

The talk is Purdy will be healthy enough to start the next game. If only the injured defensive players could, the Niners might fare better than they did against the Rams.