The 49ers jumped out to a 14-0 first-quarter lead against the Rams on Sunday, and it looked like they were going to dominate an overmatched and injury-riddled opponent. The Rams hung in there, but the 49ers still led 24-14 lead midway through the fourth quarter and appeared to have the game in hand.
And then the 49ers gave up 13 points in the final seven minutes, including 10 points after the two-minute warning, and the Rams won 27-24.
49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan said his team needs to put an opponent away when given the chance, and he pointed the finger at his team’s special teams miscues in the fourth quarter — including a missed field goal, giving up a first down on a Rams fake punt and giving up a 38-yard punt return — as the reasons for the loss.
“That’s where I thought we had a chance to run away with it, not give them any hope,” Shanahan said, via ESPN. “That gave them a lot of hope. Got them back in it . . . those are three big plays in the game.”
Shanahan said Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford is always going to be dangerous if you let him hang around into the fourth quarter.
“You’ve got to take their hope away,” Shanahan said. “You give Stafford too much hope, you put a ball in his hands at the end, it’s not a situation you want to be in.”
Despite playing behind a patchwork offensive line and without his top two receivers, Stafford completed 16 of 25 passes for 221 yards and a touchdown with no interceptions, and he led two long scoring drives in the fourth quarter, then picked up a costly pass interference penalty on the 49ers to set up the game-winning field goal. When the 49ers had a chance to put Stafford away, they failed to do it. It was a major missed opportunity for the preseason favorites to win the NFC, who are now 1-2.
