10 observations, players who stood out in 49ers unbelievable Week 5 win vs. Rams

It was a slugfest Thursday night at SoFi Stadium, and the San Francisco 49ers emerged victorious to knock off the Los Angeles Rams 26-23.

Thursday night games are always strange. This one in particular was even more weird thanks to some of the obstacles that faced the 49ers going into the game. It's still hard to project where San Francisco stacks up in the long run this year because they've been so incomplete from a health perspective.

Thursday's win still provided plenty of takeaways and lessons as the 49ers moved to 4-1:

NFC West standings update

The 49ers' victory put them in sole possession of first place in their division for now. They're sitting on top at 4-1, while the Seattle Seahawks trail them at 3-1 with the Rams at 3-2 and the Arizona Cardinals at 2-2. The Cardinals host the Tennessee Titans on Sunday, while the Seahawks host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

QB Mac Jones plays through the pain

Jones looked in the third quarter like he might be done for the game when he was landed on by Rams defensive lineman Byron Young. He stayed down for a long time holding onto the brace on his left knee before jogging off the field. He also had some forearm cramping according to head coach Kyle Shanahan. Jones overcame those issues to complete 33-of-49 passes for 342 yards and two touchdowns. He also didn't turn the ball over. It was a gritty performance that personified the quality of the win for the 49ers.

Kyle Shanahan gets aggressive ... sort of

Shanahan has some issues with being aggressive on fourth downs, but he went big early in Thursday's game when he sensed the nature of the contest. The 49ers went for it on fourth down three times and converted all three, including one from their own 36 late in the third quarter. That aggressiveness subsided with the game on the line, however.

After Alfred Collins forced and recovered a fumble at the 49ers' 1, Shanahan opted to run three times with just under a minute to go to force the Rams to use all of their timeouts before punting it away from their own end zone. Shanahan on third-and-8 opted to run instead of calling a pass play to try and get the first down to end the game. LA easily cruised into field goal range after taking over at the 50. Shanahan effectively played for overtime. It worked out, but it's a dicey way to live. It would be interesting to see if he opted for the same tactics with a fully healthy version of the 49ers offense.

49ers rookie DL Alfred Collins first big moment

Speaking of Collins' forced fumble and fumble recovery − both were the first of his career. It was the play of the game for the 49ers until their game-sealing fourth-down stop, and it was the first huge play of the rookie second-round pick's career.

FUMBLE. AT THE GOAL LINE. 49ERS BALL!

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49ers injuries hit on defensive side

Defensive linemen Kalia Davis and Yetur Gross-Matos both exited the game early. Davis has a broken hand. Gross-Matos is dealing with a hamstring injury. Cornerback Upton Stout also hurt his ankle according to head coach Kyle Shanahan. Linebacker Dee Winters also missed time during the game with a shoulder issue, but he returned to the game. With the injuries mounting on offense, having the injury bug bite the other side of the ball is the last thing San Francisco needs. Shanahan should have additional updates Friday when he speaks with reporters.

WR Kendrick Bourne blows up stat sheet

No Jauan Jennings? No Ricky Pearsall? No problem. Bourne signed with the 49ers in Week 2 and came through in a big way with the 49ers' top two wide receivers out of action. Jones leaned heavily on his former New England Patriots teammate, targeting him a team-high 11 times. Bourne caught 10 of his 11 targets for a career-high 142 yards. The only incompletion thrown his way was a drop that Bourne quickly put behind him for one of the best games of his career. He's up to 18 catches for 229 yards this season.

An unlikely 49ers hero

Shoutout to seldom-used cornerback Chase Lucas. Stout's injury brought Lucas onto the field for the game's final snap where Lucas was lined up on the left side. Defensive lineman Mykel Williams and linebacker Fred Warner got some push, but it was Lucas crashing down that plugged up the hole and allowed safety Marques Sigle and cornerback Deommodore Lenoir to get in the mix with the defensive line continuing to push to finish off the play. Lucas, a special teams mainstay, entered the game with only six defensive snaps on the season.

Eddy Pineiro ... cash

Pineiro connected on a 59-yard field goal to give the 49ers a lead late in the fourth quarter. Then he snuck a 41-yard field goal in off the left upright in overtime. Since missing his first extra point with San Francisco, Pineiro has been outstanding and is a perfect 10-for-10 with two game-winners on his stat sheet.

RB Christian McCaffrey's touch numbers balloon

There doesn't seem to be any end in sight to McCaffrey's heavy workload. He had 30 touches (22 carries, eight catches) Thursday night. He's up to 130 through five games, which puts him on pace for 442 touches this season. San Francisco needs to work on limiting his workload some, but it's hard to find a path to doing so with Jennings, Pearsall, tight end George Kittle and WR Brandon Aiyuk all missing. If the 49ers start getting healthier on offense, we should see McCaffrey's touches curtail some.

49ers beat Rams on the margins

San Francisco needed to be good at the little things in a game where so many key players were missing. Losing the turnover battle wasn't going to be an option. They won it 2-0. They couldn't have a special teams letdown. Instead they had a perfect day from their field goal kicker and blocked a key extra point that would've given the Rams a 21-20 lead with 10:43 to go. They couldn't have any backbreaking penalties, and while they were penalized eight times, they accounted for only 44 yards. It was an all-around well-played game by the 49ers in a spot where they absolutely had to have one with such a slim margin for error.

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This article originally appeared on Niners Wire: 10 49ers vs. Rams game takeaways that stood out