INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Kyle Shanahan could probably sense the possibility coming. Perhaps that’s why he was so adamant about breaking the Los Angeles Rams’ spirit.
For most of Shanahan’s tenure in the Bay, the San Francisco 49ers have owned his buddy Sean McVay’s club. SoFi Stadium on Sunday was, again, a sea of red. The hosts were winless and coming off an embarrassing loss. Shanahan sensed the vulnerability. He knew his team couldn’t afford to give them life.
Shanahan was right.
The 49ers had a 14-point lead in the first quarter. They were in position to stomp out the Rams. Coming off a tough loss at Minnesota, and with a grocery list of injuries, the 49ers could’ve used the blowout they were on the cusp of obtaining.
But they didn’t do it. They didn’t kill off Los Angeles. They made enough mistakes, missed enough plays, to keep the Rams close. The 49ers led 24-14 early in the fourth quarter.
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Their loss at Minnesota last week was much more understandable. They always struggle on the road against the Vikings, who are now 3-0. But Sunday in Los Angeles was jarring.
The 49ers gave this game away with their uncharacteristic futility across the board. Porous defense. Unclutch offense. Unreliable special teams. And a coaching staff that couldn’t stop the momentum from steamrolling the 49ers.
“I thought we had every chance to win that game,” Shanahan said. “Also thought we had a number of times in the game where we had opportunities to run away with it, especially early in the game and having a 14-point lead.”
This loss has been brewing, in reality. The 49ers have, for some months, been shoveling this hole they’re now in. Because losses like this are a collective failure and the result of a team yet to catch its flow.
Three games into the season, the 49ers are a team that looks great in spurts but yet to put together a substantial consistent stretch. Even when they were owning the New York Jets in Week 1, they weren’t in a groove — which was understandable in Week 1.
The 49ers’ success is traditionally based on synchronicity. How the coverage feeds off the pass rush, and the linebackers wreak havoc in between. How the offense is built on timing routes, a delicate choreography balanced by a physical run game. For all of their star power, the 49ers’ dominance is a product of their interdependent rhythm. A metronome of violence and grace, timing and misdirection, precision and explosion.
But the 49ers aren’t close to clicking. Far from it.
“I think this loss comes from being too complacent,” said cornerback Deommodore Lenoir. “We should’ve put them away. … This has got a lot to do with finishing.”
And the current discombobulation is a natural result of their last eight months — from an absolute gut-wrenching loss in the Super Bowl, to an offseason dominated by contentious contract holdouts, to significant changes in key positions, followed by injuries to their best players.
Yeah, from the macro view, this was coming.
If anything’s been proven in the Shanahan era, it’s this: If the machine that is 49ers football gets disrupted, San Francisco becomes a run-of-the-mill team, prone to the whims and chances of the NFL’s parity. Unlike some teams, such as Kansas City, whose success is largely predicated on a couple of strengths outweighing whatever weaknesses, the 49ers rely on a more universal strength. They wear down opponents with depth and a barrage of great players spread throughout the roster.
It’s proven to be a reliable formula, only bested by Patrick Mahomes. That’s why they still feel good about their chances to find the sync that makes them special.
Hear from Kyle Shanahan and players following #SFvsLAR. https://t.co/HIrKjY8dHD
— San Francisco 49ers (@49ers) September 22, 2024
If Sunday’s embarrassing loss was a smelling salt for the 49ers, then it was a productive defeat.
“We have to feel the loss, for sure,” Nick Bosa said. “Can’t just move on and act like it’s fine. Feel the loss and just start stacking week by week.
“Definitely a rough start, but there’s a ton of football to be played. We’ve been through some tough stretches before. We just have to stay together. We have the guys to do it.”
Brock Purdy tried his best to will the 49ers to victory.
The remaining critique of Purdy is the wealth of the 49ers’ roster. He’s reputed by his critics as more beneficiary than creator of his team’s success. But with the 49ers’ offense missing its three best playmakers — Christian McCaffrey, Deebo Samuel and George Kittle — this game would require Purdy to carry a sizeable load.
He did his part. He was 22-for-30 passing, 292 yards, three touchdowns. He was a playmaking cyclone out there, scrambling for first downs and keeping plays alive with his feet.
“Even though I’m focused on the defense,” 49ers linebacker Fred Warner said, “I’m still on that sideline watching the offense and seeing him fight for every single bit out there and put on the performance he did. That’s exactly why he’s the guy leading us at that position.”
And Jauan Jennings was his favorite target, looking like Randy Moss. Jennings caught 11 of his 12 targets for 175 yards receiving and three touchdowns. It was a career performance for someone who is usually the No. 3 receiver.
“He’s a dawg,” Purdy said. “Absolutely love that guy.”
But the offense stalled every time it had a chance to put away the Rams. Six of Purdy’s eight incompletions were drops, robbing him of a massive day. The 49ers managed 3 points in the fourth quarter after building a 14-0 lead early.
The defense, handed a two-touchdown advantage, was gashed for seven plays of 15 yards or more, including a pass interference penalty in the final minute that set up the Rams’ game-winning field goal. The number of ball carriers operating in space highlighted how bewildered the 49ers were.
And special teams? The coverage unit allowed a 38-yard punt return to start the Rams’ game-winning drive. Jake Moody missed a 55-yard field goal inside of three minutes left that might’ve put the game away. And Shanahan believes the game turned on a second-quarter Rams fake punt that worked even though the 49ers were expecting a fake punt.
“That fake punt,” Shanahan said, “it was just the momentum of the game. We gave them a lot of hope to get back in it.”
The 49ers started 1-2 just two years ago. In 2022, they also opened the season with two road losses and a home win. They were 3-4 seven games into the season. It was worrisome enough they traded for McCaffrey. The 49ers then won 12 straight games. By the time the NFC Championship Game came, they were the best team in the conference. But Purdy was injured at Philadelphia, and that was that.
It became the impetus for the Super Bowl run the following season. They were hungry to get back. They started 5-0 and, despite an injury-driven three-game losing streak, made it to the Super Bowl.
If the third time is the charm, it only stands to reason they’ve got to overcome a lull. On their third journey to the Super Bowl, and what it takes to get back on the grindstone and find their flow, this was perhaps inevitable.
“Obviously, it’s early in the season,” Purdy said. “But still, every game matters. We’re just going to take it one day at a time and not freak out about anything, but at the same time zone in on the stuff we need to get better at. And actually get better.
They couldn’t rob the Rams of hope. The trick now is to get it together fast enough so they don’t lose their own.
(Photo of Rams coach Sean McVay and 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan: Kevork Djansezian / Getty Images)