The strength of the 49ers’ offense was their running game. Everything they tried to do offensively was set up by the run, whether it was inside rushes, tosses or jet sweeps. That opened things up for the passing game with play action, which made life easier for Jimmy Garoppolo.
Knowing how limited Garoppolo is as a passer, the Rams completely changed their defensive game plan in the NFC Championship Game, breaking tendency and shifting how they defended the run. After primarily being a two-high-safety defense, the Rams utilized significantly more single-high looks to get an extra defender in the box.
In other words, they sold out to stop the run and forced Garoppolo to beat them, which he couldn’t.
