Everything was on the line for the Los Angeles Rams against the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday night. They were trying to snap a six-game losing streak to the 49ers, but more importantly, a trip to the Super Bowl was up for grabs.

They fell behind 17-7 in the third quarter and were nearly sent home with a crushing loss to their NFC West foes, but heroics from Matthew Stafford, Cooper Kupp and several others helped save the Rams’ season, securing their spot in Super Bowl LVI.

The job isn’t done yet and there are things to clean up from the win, but the Rams are one victory away from hoisting the Lombardi Trophy. Here’s what we learned from their win in the NFC title game.

1
Pass rush didn’t need sacks to affect Garoppolo

The Rams didn’t sack Garoppolo a single time. Not once. That’s hard to believe for a team that ranked third in the regular season with 50 sacks – an average of nearly three per game. As nice as it would’ve been to take Garoppolo down for a loss once or twice, it didn’t really matter.

Garoppolo was pressured on 10 dropbacks, and he had absolutely no success on any of those plays. According to Bill Barnwell, Garoppolo was just 2-for-10 for 33 yards and an interception when pressured by the Rams. Aaron Donald had five pressures in the game, with three of them coming in the fourth quarter – including on the game-sealing interception.

Von Miller and Leonard Floyd have had better performances, but they still affected the quarterback, which is what’s important.

2
This is why the Rams acquired Stafford

If you questioned the Rams’ decision to trade for Matthew Stafford last January, this is exactly why they did it – because he’s a quarterback who can put a team on his back and win it in the fourth quarter. He led a game-winning drive for the second consecutive week, helping the Rams beat the 49ers after they fell behind 17-7 in the fourth quarter.

He wasn’t perfect by any means. He threw a red zone interception, threw behind a wide-open Odell Beckham Jr. on the opening drive and was nearly picked by Jaquiski Tartt in the fourth quarter, but he also made a number of big throws.

His dart to Cooper Kupp on third-and-3 for a 25-yard gain on the game-winning drive was clutch and incredibly accurate, while his 30-yarder deep down the left side to Beckham immediately after Tartt’s drop helped the Rams win the game.

3
Reeder is a major liability in the middle of the field

The Rams have two weeks until the Super Bowl and they need to use that time to think about how to best utilize their linebackers. Because right now, keeping Troy Reeder on the field for all but two snaps is not a recipe for success.

The 49ers put him in a spot where he needed to make a play several times and he simply didn’t deliver. He missed at least three tackles, including on an 18-yard reception by Elijah Mitchell and Deebo Samuel’s 44-yarder. He was out of position on Mitchell’s 21-yard catch in the fourth quarter, too, and when it came to stopping the run, he whiffed on a tackle in the backfield when he had a chance to make a stop.

The Rams are unlikely to bench him completely, but giving Travin Howard and Ernest Jones more snaps seems like a wise plan against the Bengals.

4
Williams’ regression raises concerns in Super Bowl

Darious Williams was supposed to be a rock-solid No. 2 cornerback opposite Jalen Ramsey this year, but he’s regressed in a big way. For the second week in a row, he was picked on by the opposing quarterback. And both Tom Brady and Garoppolo had success in doing so. Williams allowed a 31-yard reception to Brandon Aiyuk deep down the left sideline, gave up 13 yards on a slant on third-and-4 and didn’t get over in time to break up Garoppolo’s touchdown pass to George Kittle.

It was a rough outing for the Rams cornerback and that’s not very encouraging with Tee Higgins, Ja’Marr Chase and Tyler Boyd looming on the other side in Super Bowl LVI. Ramsey can’t cover all of them so Williams has to step up when the Rams take the field next. Otherwise, Joe Burrow is going to avoid Ramsey altogether and just go after Williams on the other side.

5
Weddle has made a meaningful impact in his return

Who would’ve thought Eric Weddle would’ve gone from being retired to winning an NFC title game in three weeks? Yet, that’s exactly what he just did, and he’s not simply riding the coattails of his teammates. He played every single snap against the 49ers and led the Rams with nine tackles, which is incredible.

His biggest play was a tackle for a loss on Elijah Mitchell on second-and-1 in the fourth quarter, which thwarted the 49ers’ drive when the Rams were down three points. He was solid in coverage, excellent as a tackler and never seemed to be out of position despite just joining the team less than a month ago.

The Rams clearly favor him over Terrell Burgess, who didn’t play a single defensive snap against the 49ers.

6
First-half mistakes nearly cost the Rams

The Rams had been dominant in the first half of their last three games, but that wasn’t the case against the 49ers. They were sloppy and made some frustrating mistakes, which were uncharacteristic for a team that hasn’t beat itself in recent weeks. Stafford threw an end zone interception, Kupp dropped what could’ve been a touchdown over the middle, Ben Skowronek dropped a ball in the end zone that hit his hands, Matt Gay missed a 54-yard field goal after the Rams took a deep shot on third down, and Stafford was short on a fourth-down sneak.

Those errors caused the Rams to trail 10-7 at halftime, a deficit that then grew to 17-7 near the end of the third quarter. The Rams outplayed the 49ers in the first half, moving the ball fairly easily, but having two promising drives come up empty was frustrating – and almost costly.

7
Rams are lucky McVay’s timeout usage didn’t come back to bite them

It’s official: Sean McVay does not like timeouts. He burned through all three of his timeouts 20 minutes into the second half, losing two challenges and using one timeout on a first-down play to avoid a delay of game.

The Rams were left with no timeouts with about 10 minutes left in the game and trailing 17-14, which could’ve cost the Rams a win if the 49ers held their lead late in the game. Obviously, it didn’t come back to bite them because the defense stepped up in a big way, but McVay has to be better about his timeout usage. In the postseason when games are typically close, timeouts are critical late in the fourth quarter.

8
Kupp and Beckham can’t be covered

Good luck to the Bengals secondary trying to cover Kupp and Beckham, because it’s certainly not easy to do. The 49ers were no match for Kupp and Beckham on Sunday night, with both receivers going off in the NFC title game.

Kupp caught 11 passes for 142 yards and two touchdowns, while Beckham caught nine passes for 113 yards – both season-highs for Beckham as a member of the Rams. They were open on seemingly every route they ran, and Next Gen Stats shows just how frequently they generated separation from the 49ers’ defenders.