'TNF' takeaways: Mac Jones is outplaying Brock Purdy for 49ers

He did that with an absolutely depleted lineup that was without Jauan Jennings, Ricky Pearsall and George Kittle, while also playing on a short week. Jones was also playing through an injury of his own, and took a beating on Thursday. 

It is only a three-game sample size, but he has outperformed what Purdy did going back to the start of the 2024 season.

They will not start him over a healthy Purdy, but it is probably nice for them to know they have a capable backup that can step in and run Kyle Shanahan's offense incredibly efficiently. 

49ers defense makes two huge stops in crunch time

While Jones gave the 49ers a gritty effort, their defense also made two game-changing — and ultimately game-deciding — plays.

The first came late in the fourth quarter when Rams running back Kyren Williams looked to be running in for a go-ahead touchdown. But just before he crossed the goal line, he had the football punched out of his hands by rookie defensive lineman Alfred Collins. 

The Rams ended up getting the ball back and worked their way into field goal range to send the game to overtime.

After San Francisco kicked a field goal on the opening drive of overtime, the Rams again moved down the field on their possession and faced a 4th-and-1 at the San Francisco 11-yard line. Instead of playing for the tie, the Rams tried to get the first down only to have Williams get stuffed on a game-deciding stop. 

Sean McVay made mistake taking ball out of Matthew Stafford's hands

The biggest thing to watch on that 4th-and-1 stop isn't that the Rams went for it (they should have), it's the play-call. After both teams called a timeout, Rams head coach Sean McVay came out and called a run straight up the middle that was stuffed by the 49ers defense. 

Why did he take the ball out of quarterback Matthew Stafford's hands at that point? Stafford successfully brought the Rams back from a 14-point deficit on Thursday and has been playing at an MVP level this season. He has been especially sensational the past two weeks, and on Thursday night had thrown for 389 yards, three touchdowns and zero interceptions. It is the second week in a row he topped the 300-yard mark with three touchdowns and zero interceptions, and was on point all night. 

Why not let your best player and quarterback make a play with the game on the line? It was just one of the many questionable plays — and mistakes — that the now 3-2 Rams made in a tough divisional loss to a now 4-1 49ers team.