The San Francisco 49ers secured their playoff spot by defeating the National Conference West champions Los Angeles Rams 27-24 on Sunday 27-24 in overtime thanks to Robbie Gould’s 24-yard field goal at 2 : 45 from the end and an interception by Ambry Thomas that sentenced the game.
Jauan Jennings caught a 14-yard touchdown pass from Jimmy Garoppolo with 26 seconds left in regular time for the 49ers (10-7), who are in the postseason for only the second time in eight years.
San Francisco erased an early 17-point deficit for its sixth straight win over the Rams (12-5), who clinched the division title thanks to Seattle’s win over Arizona.
San Francisco, seeded sixth, will face Dallas next week, while the Rams, fourth in the NFC, will play the Cardinals in the first playoff game in SoFi Stadium history.
Deebo Samuel ran for a touchdown and passed for another with Jennings for the Niners, who had a surgical 69-yard first drive to start overtime. The Rams had their chance, but Thomas intercepted Matthew Stafford’s long pass to Odell Beckham Jr.
San Francisco now has the longest streak in this rivalry since the 1990s.
Cooper Kupp caught a Stafford touchdown pass to put the Rams ahead with 2:26. Los Angeles saw a five-game winning streak broken.
Stafford passed for 238 yards and three touchdowns to clinch the first division title of his 13-season career.
Garoppolo led the Niners on an 88-yard 61-second march that culminated in Jennings’ reception down midfield. San Francisco had the first overtime offense and capitalized.