3 Takeaways from 49ers' Week 2 Win vs. Rams

A week ago, the San Francisco 49ers looked and played like the best team in football. Sunday's game against the rival Los Angeles Rams may have humbled San Francisco just a little bit.

San Francisco still got the win, but it struggled to corral the rival Los Angeles Rams in the first half before tightening things up in the second. A 49ers defense that looked virtually unstoppable against the Pittsburgh Steelers allowed nearly 400 yards to a Rams unit missing Cooper Kupp.

If the 49ers viewed the Rams as an opportunity for an easy victory, they were mistaken.

A win is a win, of course, and San Francisco will certainly take its 2-0 start to the season, Here are our biggest takeaways from Sunday's 30-23 victory over the Rams.

The NFL's MVP award has all but become a quarterback award. Chances are that a signal-caller will be named the league's Most Valuable Player once again. 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey, however, might be able to throw his hat into the ring.

McCaffrey was electric during the Week 1 rout of Pittsburgh, finishing with 153 rushing yards, 17 receiving yards and a touchdown. In a game against the Rams that was much closer, McCaffrey might have been even more impressive.

The 27-year-old rushed for 116 yards, 6.8 yards per carry and a touchdown. He caught three passes for 19 yards and demanded enough defensive attention that it eventually broke players like Deebo Samuel (1-1 scrimmage yards, rushing TD) free.

At a time when NFL teams are moving away from every-down running backs, McCaffrey is the complete package. He runs with vision, power, quickness and can catch. It's early in the season, but he's on pace for 2,533 scrimmage yards.

The last non-quarterback to be named MVP was Adrian Peterson in 2012. If McCaffrey can stay healthy and keep playing at this pace, he'll have a chance to break the QB streak.

Quarterback Brock Purdy saw his own streak come to an end on Sunday.

During last week's win over Pittsburgh, the second-year signal-caller became the first quarterback in NFL history to win each of his first six regular-season starts while throwing at least two touchdown passes in each contest.

Purdy did not throw two touchdown passes against the Rams. He didn't even throw one. While his fantasy numbers may have disappointed, Purdy's play did not.

The 2022 seventh-round draft pick was an efficient 17-of-25 for 206 yards and did not commit a turnover. Purdy keeps finding ways to win, and it's not a fluke. He's playing and preparing like a legitimate franchise quarterback.

"It's just going to be about going out there and seeing the defense, making sure we're in the right play, formation, all that kind of stuff," Purdy said before the game, per Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area. "And keep it simple and play ball—play our ball."

It continues to look like San Francisco has found its next franchise quarterback.

The Rams poked holes in the 49ers vaunted defense early. In the first half, L.A. accumulated 196 total yards and 16 first downs while running 31 offensive plays. It was 3-of-4 on third downs and carried a 17-point tie into intermission.

A week after shredding the Seattle Seahawks defense, the Rams appeared poised to put San Francisco on upset alert.

However, the 49ers defense tightened up when it mattered most. While San Francisco put 13 points on the board after the break, the Rams managed just two field goals, one coming at the end of regulation and having no bearing on the outcome.

While the Rams added another 190 net yards after the break, the 49ers recorded two interceptions and one turnover on downs.

This wasn't the sort of defensive dominance we saw from the 49ers in Week 1, but thanks to players like Isaiah Oliver and Deommodore Lenoir—who each had a pick on Sunday—Javon Hargrave and Nick Bosa, San Francisco did enough defensively to move to 2-0.

The 49ers should take some comfort in the knowledge that they can swill win with an imperfect defensive performance.