Monday Night Observations

This article is part of our NFL Observations series.

The Rams and 49ers are so Jekyll and Hyde, you never know what version will show up. Fortunately, I had the Niners plus four, and Elijah Mitchell got me just enough points to hold off George Kittle and Darrell Henderson in the NFFC Primetime. The Rams seemed like an elite team early on, but their losses have been bad, and I don't see them winning road games in the playoffs with a finesse offense. 

• Jimmy Garoppolo played well. He didn't turn it over, took only one sack and made good throws into tight windows. Of course, it helps when you're playing with a lead all game, and your team is able to run the ball 42 times. But Trey Lance isn't taking over in the near term.
• Deebo Samuel (5-36-1, 5-5-97-1) is a monster. He catches everything thrown his way, breaks tackles, has good vision and even lines up in the backfield.
• George Kittle (7-5-50-1) was involved early, but wasn't needed much in the second half. He looks healthy though. Brandon Aiyuk (4-3-26-0) had a quiet day, but be patient, as he's a freak athlete who should get his.
• Elijah Mitchell (27-91-0) ran hard, but often got stuffed near the line of scrimmage. The workload was great, but Jeff Wilson (10-28-0) also got carries, and Mitchell doesn't catch a lot of passes.
• Matthew Stafford had another forgettable game. He's a good quarterback, but the narrative might have been a bit overblown, given his merely good, but not great work in Detroit. His receivers did him no favors though with five drops, his first interception was partly due to miscommunication with newly signed Odell Beckham and his second (a pick-six) was off Tyler Higbee's hands.

• Darrell Henderson (5-31-0, 6-4-10-0) didn't see much work in the blowout loss, in part due to a suspected concussion that cost him some snaps.
• Odell Beckham had a bit role. It doesn't seem like Van Jefferson is really a No. 2, so Beckham should get a bigger shot after the bye.
• Cooper Kupp (13-11-122-0) had a slow start, but always produces, and garbage time was good to him. He on pace for a 186-136-1826-16 season, which equals 412.6 PPR points, or 26.16 per game, tied for third all time with Jerry Rice who scored 22 TDs in 12 games that year. The only players ahead of him are Wes Chandler in the strike-shortened 1982 season, and only by .02 PPG and Elroy Hirsch in 1951, by only 0.3 PPG.