In Raheem Morris, 49ers have rare defensive coordinator able to humble Rams

Kyle Shanahan is going to have to hire another new defensive coordinator, isn’t he?It sure seems like Raheem Morris won’t have to wait long for his next head-coaching opportunity if the 49ers’ defensive effort in their 27-7 win over the Rams was any sign of what’s to come.Morris’ new-look unit made Matthew Stafford look discombobulated and left Sean McVay’s typically surgical attack asleep at the operating table in a way that few others have.Two third-down conversions on nine tries.Fifteen total first downs.

On three trips to the red zone, the Rams walked away empty-handed more times than not, including a goal-line stand that the 49ers followed by marching 99 yards down the field in the game’s defining sequence.“This is a humbling day for us,” McVay said after it was over.Not many defensive coordinators have made the Rams’ offensive maestro utter those words.How much of Los Angeles’ haze can be chalked up to the almost 8,000-mile journey it made less than 48 hours earlier is impossible to know with any certainty.McVay and Stafford, for what it’s worth, downplayed the effects of whatever grogginess they felt.But there’s no question Morris’ scheme was a big part of their offensive disorder.That’s because nobody neutered last year’s MVP like that … besides Morris (who has the advantage of having gone head-to-head with McVay in practice every day as the Rams’ DC from 2021-23).As the Falcons’ head coach last season, his defense accounted for three of Stafford’s eight interceptions all season in a Week 16 win.

That was Stafford’s only game with more picks than touchdowns.And voila, in his next matchup with Morris, he did it again.One of the new wrinkles Morris brought to the 49ers’ defense was his tendency to disguise coverages.

Clearly, that has caused trouble for even the game’s most cerebral quarterbacks.Morris’ background is in the secondary, and after what they did to Stafford, the 49ers’ DBs must be salivating at ...