The Los Angeles Rams played host to the San Francisco 49ers in the annual “road” game for the Niners that is really another home game with the amount of red jerseys in SoFi Stadium. Both teams were coming off of wins, with the Rams beating the Seahawks on the road while the Niners authored one of the most dominant performances of Week 1 with their win in Pittsburgh.
As such, San Francisco was a 7.5-point favorite in Los Angeles, and while the Rams stayed close in what was a 17-17 game at the half, the second half was almost all Niners. San Francisco opened up a 10-point lead late in the fourth quarter and they seemed like they would cruise to not only a win but a cover for Niners bettors, but the Rams and Sean McVay had other ideas. After moving the ball into San Francisco territory, the Rams spiked the ball with four seconds on the clock and trotted out the field goal unit for a walkoff field goal to lose by 7 — but cover the number.
THE RAMS (+7.5) WITH THE BACKDOOR COVER AS TIME EXPIRES pic.twitter.com/ykk1fhgtod
— Action Network (@ActionNetworkHQ) September 17, 2023
It’s a truly sick way to lose if you had a 49ers ticket and there were plenty of people calling for the investigation into why they’d kick there, but the answer is McVay was simply going for the Madden field goal — where when down 10 you kick as soon as you get into range to give yourself time for the touchdown after an onside kick. The problem was, with four seconds there’s not even close to enough time to execute that plan and the result is just a swift kick in the teeth for those that laid the points — but Rams fans who backed their squad got a little consolation prize in the loss.
