SANTA CLARA — And just like that . . . the 49ers are right back in the mix.
Coming off a horrendous showing in Week 3, the 49ers put it all together in beating their biggest rival on the stage of "Monday Night Football."
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The 49ers played a well-rounded game for a 24-9 victory over the Los Angeles Rams before a fired-up crowd at Levi’s Stadium.
The 49ers’ victory means that every team in the NFC West is 2-2. With victories over the Seattle Seahawks and Rams, the 49ers are the only team without a loss in the division.
The 49ers now have won seven straight regular-season games against the Rams.
Here are the takeaways from the 49ers’ game against the Rams:
San Francisco 49ers
Another strong defensive performance
Again, the 49ers’ defense bought plenty of time for the offense to build a lead on Monday night.
In their two losses, the 49ers’ defense failed to close the door. But safety Talanoa Hufanga slammed it shut on Monday night.
Hufanga read a Matthew Stafford pass attempt for Cooper Kupp perfectly, jumped the route, intercepted the pass and returned it 52 yards for a touchdown.
The play gave the 49ers a 24-9 lead midway through the fourth quarter.
Stafford finished the game with 30 completions on 46 attempts for 241 yards with no touchdown passes and one interception. His passer rating was 69.2.
The 49ers registered seven sacks, coming from Nick Bosa (two), Samson Ebukam (two), Charles Omenihu, Deommodore Lenoir and Hassan Ridgeway.
The 49ers held the high-powered Rams offense to two field goals in the first 30 minutes en route to a 14-6 lead. The 49ers did not give up a touchdown in the first half of any of their first four games.
The Rams managed just 102 yards of total offense in the first half. The Rams’ two scoring drives both went for 54 yards. Los Angeles had a total of minus-6 yards on their other three drives combined.
Deebo doing Deebo things
The 49ers’ offense hit a lull after scoring a touchdown on the first drive of the game.
Then, Deebo Samuel made his first Deebo-like play of the young season.
Faced with a third-and-3 play with the 49ers holding onto a 7-6 lead, Jimmy Garoppolo threw to Samuel on the left side.
Rams cornerback Derion Kendrick went for the interception and missed. Then, Samuel made Safety Taylor Rapp missed, then Samuel cut to the middle of the field and juked out cornerback Grant Haley.
Meanwhile, the 49ers had blockers downfield — George Kittle, Kyle Juszczyk, Jauan Jennings — to leave Samuel one-on-one with Rams All-Pro safety Jalen Ramsey.
Ramsey had a free shot on Samuel but barely slowed him down.
Then, Samuel picked up one last block from Brandon Aiyuk for a 57-yard touchdown. It was his first receiving touchdown of the season.
Mixing in the passing game
The 49ers entered Week 4 with one of the highest run percentages on first downs. On Monday, they asked a little more of Garoppolo.
Garoppolo, coming off a forgettable game against the Denver Broncos, completed 16 of 27 for 239 yards with one touchdown pass and no interceptions.
The game had a similar feel to when the Rams visited Levi’s Stadium last year. The 49ers were reeling with a 3-5 record.
But times have changed from a year ago when 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan challenged his team to run the ball 40 times against the Rams in a key mid-season game.
The 49ers ran the ball 44 times that night en route to a 31-10 victory.
But the 49ers are not in a position to run the ball with the volume and effectiveness this season. After all, the club has new players on the interior of the offensive line, left tackle Trent Williams out with a high ankle sprain and the club playing without running back Elijah Mitchell.
The 49ers’ first offensive play was a 15-yard pass from Garoppolo to Brandon Aiyuk. That got the 49ers going on a drive that ended with Jeff Wilson’s 32-yard touchdown run.
The 49ers’ experienced more problems on the offensive line, as fill-in left tackle Colton McKivitz sustained a knee injury in the second half and was replaced by Jaylon Moore.