The Rams and 49ers were even at halftime, but the 49ers have pulled away from their NFC West rivals in the third quarter.
Rookie running back Darrell Henderson couldn’t handle a pitch from Rams quarterback Jared Goff and the 49ers recovered the ball inside the 20-yard-line to kick off the quarter. Tevin Coleman got the ball to the edge of the end zone and quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo snuck it in for a touchdown.
The Rams lost five yards on their next drive and a muffed punt was wiped out by a penalty on the Rams punt team, which gave the 49ers the ball near midfield. They converted a pair of third downs and got a big gain from wide receiver Dante Pettis, but Pettis couldn’t get his feet down in bounds on a catch at the back of the end zone and Coleman dropped what would have been a touchdown on third down.
The Niners settled for a field goal to extend their lead to 17-7 in Los Angeles.