3 things we learned about the 49ers: The special teams can’t be trusted

The San Francisco 49ers have suffered a bad loss for the second consecutive week.

And not all bad losses are built the same. Last week against Minnesota, the offense couldn’t quite figure out the Vikings’ defense in time to get past a team the 49ers probably should beaten. Sunday’s loss to the Rams was much worse than that.

A total late-game collapse by the 49ers handed the Rams a 27-24 victory on a silver platter. After three quarters that didn’t see San Francisco pull away from their division rivals, the Rams scratched and clawed their way to the upset win.

Let’s find out what we learned and try to move past this game as quickly as possible:

Something about Brock Purdy

Even with the result, Sunday was the best performance (so far) of Purdy’s early career. With only Jauan Jennings and Brandon Aiyuk as his usual targets after a slew of injuries, Purdy threw for 292 yards and three touchdowns. Just look at his throw chart:

Even without the full array of options, Kyle Shanahan trusted Purdy to keep pushing the ball down the field, with 15 of Purdy’s 30 attempts on Sunday ten yards downfield or deeper. And Purdy rewarded that trust, completing 11-of-15 passes for 219 yards, with all three touchdown passes thrown to the medium-deep range.

But Purdy’s poise stood out on Sunday alongside his numbers. It wasn’t a great game for the offensive line, allowing Purdy to be pressured 16 times, but the quarterback was only sacked once. Purdy was pressured on 18 dropbacks but completed nine-of-11 passes under pressure for 98 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

It seemed despite the injuries on the offense and a couple of self-inflicted mistakes–a fumble lost and opting not to pass to a wide-open Aiyuk in the fourth quarter–Purdy looked every bit of the franchise quarterback on Sunday the 49ers hope they have for the foreseeable future.

Special teams can never be trusted.

Okay, maybe we didn’t learn this, but Sunday was a refresher of a lesson that has been taught repeatedly. Three special teams’ blunders directly led to Los Angeles scores.

That’s three mistakes too many.

With the Rams trailing by 14 points halfway through the second quarter, Sean McVay pressured the 49ers return team, dialing up a fake punt on a fourth-and-6 in Los Angeles territory. It’s one of those bold calls where a head coach will get ridiculed if the trickery fails.

Fortunately for McVay, the 49ers were his opponent, so of course, Ronnie Rivers got just enough to extend the drive on the direct snap. The Rams would make good use of the trick play, getting on the board and cutting the San Francisco lead in half nine plays later.

But that gaff happened in the first half, and while not ideal, there was plenty of time for San Francisco to recover. The next mistake, however, started an avalanche the 49ers couldn’t avoid.

Up seven with less than three minutes remaining, the offense did just enough to get on the cusp of field goal range. With a chance to ice the game, Jake Moody lined up on the left hash for a 55-yard attempt. The ball was as straight as an arrow when it left Moody’s foot. Too bad, at some point, it needed to go right, as the ball would go just outside the left upright to give the Rams a chance to tie the game. And that’s just what the Rams did.

The offense dropped its chance to win, and the punt team found itself on the field with 55 seconds remaining. Mitch Wishnowsky’s punt traveled to the Rams’ 12-yard line, where Xavier Smith beat the San Francisco coverage team for a 38-yard return and flipped the field. Two plays later, the Rams executed their special teams responsibilities, and the game was lost.

Special teams are a yearly issue for the 49ers, so you go into every season hoping it’ll be a different story. We learned Sunday that 2024 won’t be any different.

The defense is losing its luster

I don’t know exactly what it is, but something feels off. It felt off last week in Minnesota, and Sunday in Los Angeles did nothing to make those feelings disappear.

The biggest concerns from the loss to the Rams were the defense’s inability to make a big play and its susceptibility to allowing the big plays. Look no further than the mistake-riddled final few minutes. Charvarius Ward getting beat by Tutu Atwell and the De’Vondre Campbell pass interference are mistakes that shouldn’t be made by a defense the caliber of the 49ers are supposed to be, especially in the moments they happened.

But the downfall of the defense started well before the final few minutes. The Rams had eight drives after San Francisco took its 14-0 lead at the end of the first quarter. Here are those drives results, with the amount the Rams trailed by entering the drive:

• Trailing by 14, punt
• Trailing by 14, touchdown
• Trailing by 7, end of half
• Trailing by 7, punt
• Trailing by 14, touchdown
• Trailing by 10, field goal
• Trailing by 7, touchdown
• Tied, field goal

The 49ers’ offense kept giving the defense a chance to make a play that would have allowed the offense to extend the lead to three scores, but the opportunity never came. When the time came when a stop was needed, the defense couldn’t get out of its way, allowing the Rams to stay in the game.

Maybe it’s a short-term trend but also a worrying one. From the always-trusted pass rush to the secondary, concerns are everywhere. And for a defense that’s been as good as the 49ers have had for the last few years, that in itself is a concern.