“I told [the team] last night, you’ve got to take their hope away. You give [Los Angeles Rams QB Matthew Stafford] too much hope and put the ball in his hands at the end, it’s not a situation you want to be in.” San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan
Narrator: The 49ers gave the Rams hope and put the ball in Stafford’s hands at the end.
“I think this loss comes from being too complacent,” said cornerback Deommodore Lenoir. “We were up, what, 14-0, and we should have put it away, gave them hope and they were able to come back and win the game. So I think this has got a lot to do with finishing.”
Up 14-0 at one point and holding a 10-point lead halfway into the fourth quarter, the San Francisco 49ers melted down to give the Los Angeles Rams an improbable Hollywood ending, and a 27-24 win, at SoFi Stadium on Sunday.
“I know everyone was pissed without them having to tell me, and we should be,” Shanahan said after the game. “When you have a game like that, where you feel you have every chance to win and don’t get it done, those are usually the more disappointing ones. All three phases had their due in that.”
The first layer of hope came in the second quarter, when the Rams completed successful fake punt that led to a 15-yard Kyren Williams touchdown, changing the momentum and stopping the 49ers for turning the game into a blowout. It was the latest in a slew of special teams debacles that have plagued the 49ers three games into the season.
But it was the game’s final three minutes that truly saw the 49ers fall apart. Kicker Jake Moody missed a 55-yard FG, after which the Rams took over for Stafford to immediately complete at 50-yard pass to WR Tutu Atwell. Williams scored a one-yard touchdown and the game was tied at 24. Hope springs eternal.
Purdy and Co. took over, with the quarterback scrambling for four yards and then completing a nine-yard pass to Brandon Aiyuk. Purdy’s next pass to Aiyuk was incomplete, but the real dagger was on the next one, when Purdy’s perfectly-thrown deep ball went through the hands of WR Ronnie Bell. The 49ers punted, and Rams kicker Joshua Karty made a 37-yard field goal with two seconds left to win the game.
“I think we have to feel the loss for sure,” said pass rusher Nick Bosa. “We can’t just move on and act like it’s fine.”
49ers quarterback Brock Purdy had a pretty incredible performance, especially considering he was without Christian McCaffrey, Deebo Samuel and George Kittle. Purdy finished the day 22-of-30 for 292 yards and three touchdowns while scrambling for 41 yards, and essentially shutting down the naysayers that say his success is the result of an elite supporting cast.
All three of those touchdowns were caught by wide receiver Jauan Jennings who had 11 receptions for 175 yards. It was a career performance for San Francisco’s WR3, who injuries made WR2 and who performed like WR1.
“Just his love for the game…you can see it, you feel it when you’re on the field with him,” Purdy said of Jennings. “I absolutely love that guy. I’d go to war with him any day of the week.”
The 49ers are a team looking to contend for the Super Bowl, and this time win it. Dropped passes, special teams gaffes and a defense that’s struggling on third down and beyond isn’t going to make that happen.
That being said, it’s Week 3, so, in theory, there’s time to figure it out.
Asked if having gone through similar adversity in the past three seasons makes the 49ers equipped to do just that, Bosa said, “It’s just the NFL. It’s up and down, and no matter how talented you think you are, you have to play good on Sundays. We’ve been practicing great. It’s not that. We have to understand what teams are trying to do to us and adjust to it.”
Injury note: Defensive lineman Javon Hargrave suffered a tricpes injury, the severity of which is not yet known.
The 49ers next host the New England Patriots at Levi’s Stadium in Week 4.