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sports Tuesday 20 OcTOber 2020
Jimmy Garoppolo throws 3 TD passes, 49ers beat Rams 24-16

By JOSH DUBOW to step up and get better." San Francisco's defense
AP Pro Football Writer Garoppolo got pulled at stepped up with some key
SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) halftime last week in a stops in the second half. Los
— Jimmy Garoppolo and 43-17 loss to Miami after Angeles got in the red zone
the San Francisco 49ers struggling on a bum an- on its first possession of the
bounced back from a lop- kle, raising questions if the third quarter, but settled for
sided loss and showed the injury-riddled Niners (3-3) a field goal after Andrew
banged-up defending NFC would be able to contend Whitworth committed a
champions aren't ready to in the NFC West after back- false start on third-and-1.
pack it in quite yet. to-back home losses to the The Rams were in position
Garoppolo threw three TD Dolphins and Philadelphia. to cut even more into the
passes in the first half and But Garoppolo staked the deficit before Dre Green-
Jason Verrett's first intercep- Niners to a 21-6 halftime law stopped Darrell Hen-
tion in more than four years lead over the Rams (4-2) derson for a 1-yard loss on
helped preserve the lead, by relying mostly on short second-and-goal from the San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo (10) passes
between Los Angeles Rams defensive end Aaron Donald (99)
giving the 49ers a 24-16 vic- passes and connecting on 1, Cooper Kupp dropped and nose tackle Sebastian Joseph-Day (69) during the first half
tory over the Los Angeles TDs with Deebo Samuel, a pass in the end zone on of an NFL football game in Santa Clara, Calif., Sunday, Oct. 18,
Rams on Sunday night. George Kittle and Brandon third down and Verrett 2020.
"Whenever you get em- Aiyuk. came up with the intercep- Associated Press
barrassed like we did last "It was a different mindset tion on fourth down. his 2015 Pro Bowl level this all for Jared Goff, who also
week you can find out a lot that everyone had," Garop- Verrett has ended up on in- season for the 49ers, help- missed an open Kupp on
about your team," coach polo said. "The couple of jured reserve in five of his ing fill the void created by a deep ball earlier in the
Kyle Shanahan said. "Usu- weeks before that, no one six seasons in the NFL and an injury to Richard Sher- second half. Goff went 19
ally when stuff like that like that feeling. It wasn't played only 66 defensive man. for 38 for 198 yards with
happens, guys either give who we are as a team. This snaps the past three years. Verrett's interception was two touchdowns and one
in and try to hide or guys try week got us back on track." But he has gotten back to part of a rough day over- interception.q