NFL coaches do not trade in grace. They steal, they borrow, they borrow so aggressively it looks like theft. And on Thursday, in the 49ers’ season opener, new defensive coordinator Raheem Morris used that exact habit to make Sean McVay look flat-footed.
Morris didn’t just beat his former boss. He took the Rams’ own idea and turned it back on them.
The offseason buzz had centered on McVay’s much-discussed 13 personnel, with plenty of people acting like three tight ends was some kind of tactical moon landing. But the bigger story, the one that actually mattered, was on the other side of the ball: the Rams leaned on dime personnel on nearly a third of their defensive snaps in 2025.
That was the highest six-defensive-back rate in football, and it was way out ahead of the rest of the league. Around the NFL, a third of teams used dime on fewer than 5 percent of snaps, and two clubs never used it at all, per NFL tracking data.
The 49ers, by comparison, only ran the set 16 times last season.
That was the blueprint Morris took with him.
Instead of matching McVay’s heavy looks with heavier bodies, Morris flooded the field with cornerbacks and forced the Rams to deal with speed, spacing and confusion. The result was a defense that repeatedly erased what McVay was trying to build.
Upton Stout and Jack Jones crowded throwing lanes before Matt Stafford could get through his drop. Renardo Green played coverage that walked the line between sticky and illegal.
Deommodore Lenoir came downhill like a linebacker and tackled ball-carriers as if he had been one all along.
The Rams kept trying to find the easy answers underneath. They didn’t get them.
Every hot route meant to punish a mismatch got covered. Every screen aimed at the edges got blown up by a defensive back quick enough to beat offensive linemen to the spot.
McVay’s offense is built on anticipation, on knowing the defense’s answer before the question is fully asked. This time, he was the one caught off guard.
The Niners used dime eight times Thursday, according to the NFL, which worked out to 12 percent of their snaps. That package produced an interception, a big third-down breakup by Jones, a third-down stop highlighted by a strong open-field tackle, and a fourth-down incompletion.
For McVay, that had to sting. He was watching a variation of his own defensive idea trip up his offense. And it happened on a cricket ground in another hemisphere, with the whole thing taking place in what looked like a jet-lagged haze.
The Rams appeared to expect a brawl of bulk against bulk. The Niners had practiced five-man fronts often enough this preseason that the matchup seemed ready-made for that kind of game. Instead, Morris went the other direction and brought six straight razors.
Maybe it won’t work like that every week. Probably it won’t. But in Week 1, Morris showed exactly what kind of coordinator he is: flexible, ruthless and willing to rip up the script if he thinks the moment calls for it.
Against one of the league’s best play-callers, and the coach whose ideas tend to ripple across the NFL a year later, Morris stayed ahead all night. That’s a strong first impression.
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Brock Purdy Hit Could Bring NFL Fallout After 49ers Opener
Brock Purdys season-opening performance in Melbourne was memorable for more than just the box score, because one of the biggest moments came when the 49ers quarterback took a hit from Rams defensive tackle Tyler Davis that drew a roughing-the-passer flag. Purdy finished the game 25 of 34 for 205 yards with three touchdowns and one interception, but the contact he absorbed is the kind of play that tends to linger after the final whistle once the league reviews it.
The NFLs guidelines leave room for fines on penalties like that, and there is already speculation that the collision may have crossed into helmet-to-helmet territory, which could bring added discipline. For San Francisco, the immediate concern is the health of its quarterback and the protection he gets going forward, while the larger issue is whether the league decides the hit in Melbourne was simply a penalty on the field or something more costly when the office in New York takes a closer look. [Read more 🡒]
Rams Hit On Brock Purdy Could Bring NFL Punishment
Brock Purdy still delivered a productive outing in Melbourne, but one of the biggest moments in the 49ers game came on a hit from Rams defensive tackle Tyler Davis that drew a roughing-the-passer flag and raised the possibility of a helmet-to-helmet call. The play stood out not just because of the contact itself, but because it landed on a San Francisco quarterback who kept the offense moving anyway, finishing 25 of 34 for 205 yards with three touchdowns and one interception.
For the NFL, the question now is whether the play turns into more than a penalty on the field. League discipline can follow this kind of hit if officials and review determine it crossed the line, though it remains to be seen whether fines will actually come down. For the 49ers, the larger concern is the same one every team has in moments like this: protecting Purdy while keeping him upright enough to do what he did in Melbourne. [Read more 🡒]
Nick Bosa's 49ers Return Took A Strange Turn After The Rams Win
Nick Bosas return in the 49ers season opener against the Rams was one of the biggest on-field positives of the night. Coming back from a torn ACL, he made his presence felt with four tackles, two tackles for loss and a quarterback hit, a reminder of how much San Francisco missed him when he was out. For a player whose impact is usually measured in pressure and disruption, simply getting through that first game healthy mattered as much as the stat line.
The strange part came afterward, when a social media post began circulating with a quote falsely attributed to Bosa about honoring Charlie Kirk, a statement he never made. It was the latest example of how quickly fake quotes can spread around NFL players, following similar fabrications that have previously targeted George Kittle and C.J. Stroud. For the 49ers, it turned a straightforward comeback story into an unnecessary off-field distraction. [Read more 🡒]