Going into the Week 6 divisional matchup against the Los Angeles Rams, media members and fans were not happy with the play of San Francisco 49ers right tackle Mike McGlinchey. The 2018 first-round pick was beaten twice on pivotal plays during the final drive of the Week 4 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, and the entire team looked awful against the Miami Dolphins.
McGlinchey wasn’t happy with the criticism of what he called “armchair quarterbacks” after the loss to the Dolphins. He explained that the fans don’t know the little details that go into every play and that he was happy with how he has performed this season.
The Niners needed a strong effort to get back on track against the Rams, and they got just that. San Francisco’s offensive line played its best game of the year, holding Aaron Donald and the rest of Los Angeles’ defense to zero sacks and just two QB pressures.
McGlinchey — who Pro Football Focus graded as the best 49ers offensive player against the Rams — used the criticism as fuel going into the Week 6 game.
“It just gives you that little extra edge, and I appreciate the edge if that’s what you guys want to keep giving me it’s, it’s awesome,” the Notre Dame product said. “It was a cool night. I played up to the standard that I know that I can play, and I got back on track, I eliminated the bad plays.”
San Francisco fans should continue to bombard McGlinchey on Twitter each week if it means he’s going to perform the way he did against Los Angeles. The 25-year-old reiterated that he felt the team had played well, despite the 2-3 start, and that the mistakes were correctable.
“You stay on your standard of play, you stay on your routine, and things build,” McGlinchey said. “We’ve been building and building, been seeing good things on film, even in the tough losses, which was what I was trying to articulate last week.”
McGlinchey’s reaction to Deebo Samuel’s game-sealing rush late in the fourth quarter showed how excited he was with the 49ers bounce back against the Rams. He head-butted teammate Hronis Grassu after Samuel’s first down. After back-to-back subpar outings, you can he how much it meant to McGlinchey to get the win.
“That’s all that that was it was just a lot of excitement, a lot of pride in what we did that night,” McGlinchey said. To seal it the way that we did with that final play, it just was the icing on the cake.”
For the dub!! #LARvsSF https://t.co/3Kcp0mghy0 pic.twitter.com/mdqU7yo5ry
— San Francisco 49ers (@49ers) October 19, 2020
San Francisco’s offense is mostly healthy, and the group looked sharp against Los Angeles. McGlinchey noticed the confidence in the huddle from the opening kick-off, something that was a welcome sight after two straight losses.
“We got our ass kicked by Miami, we didn’t close against Philly, and we should have done that,” McGlinchey said. “For us to go through that kind of hard stuff, [it was] leading to that moment on Sunday, and it was building. You have to experience adversity, you have to experience tough, tough times in order for those kind of moments to arise.”
How confident are you that the 49ers’ offensive line has turned the corner into the matchup against the New England Patriots?