Matthew Stafford – and protestor – mauled as 49ers beat Los Angeles Rams

Deebo Samuel turned a short catch into an electric 57-yard touchdown, Talanoa Hufanga returned an interception for a score and the San Francisco 49ers beat the Los Angeles Rams 24-9 Monday night.

Jeff Wilson Jr also scored on a 32-yard run that gave the Niners (2-2) their seventh straight regular-season win over their in-state rivals. The Rams (2-2) won the matchup that meant most in last season’s NFC championship game on the way to a Super Bowl title, but this meeting looked more like their recent regular-season meetings.

San Francisco used a relentless defense to slow down coach Sean McVay’s offense and got enough big plays for the win. Nick Bosa had two of San Francisco’s seven sacks against Matthew Stafford to give him an NFL-best six on the season and Hufanga iced it with his 52-yard pick-six in the fourth quarter. It was San Francisco’s fourth pick-six against the Rams in their last six regular-season meetings.

Samuel once again delivered the big blows offensively. The key play came late in the second quarter when he turned what looked to be an interception by Jimmy Garoppolo into a touchdown. Derion Kendrick jumped the five-yard route and nearly got the pick. But Samuel made the catch and that’s when his work really started. He broke tackles from Taylor Rapp and Jalen Ramsey and weaved his way through the Rams defense for the final 52 yards to give the Niners a 14-6 lead.

DEEBO WAS RUNNINNNNN @19problemz