Santa Clara – The woes of the 49ers continue to grow. In a must-win game, the team once again squandered their playoff hopes, falling to the Los Angeles Rams 12-6. Brock Purdy and the offense failed to score a single touchdown, while DeVondre Campbell’s refusal to play added to the team’s struggles. Meanwhile, injuries continued to mount, further compounding their difficulties.
After the game, Head Coach Kyle Shanahan commented on Campbell’s decision to sit out:
What happened with LB De’Vondre Campbell Sr.? He didn’t play and he went into the locker room at some point?
“He said he didn’t want to play today.”
Said he didn’t want to play today?
“Yep.”
Did he tell the coaching staff?
“He did when I asked him why he didn’t want to go in.”
During the game or before?
“No, that was in the third quarter.”
“I haven’t lost anybody,” said Shanahan. “That’s somebody who doesn’t want to play football. That’s pretty simple. I think our team, and myself, we know how we feel about that, so I don’t think we need to talk about him anymore.
People noticed, but when someone says that, you move on. You don’t deal with that anymore.”
The 49ers came up short in a crucial division matchup, further diminishing their playoff hopes. It’s hard to believe this is the same team that faced the Kansas City Chiefs in last year’s Super Bowl. Despite a dominant 30-point victory over the Chicago Bears last week, the Niners’ offense has since fallen flat, resembling a team lacking motivation and urgency.
“They say mathematically we still have a chance,” Shanahan explained. “I’m not too concerned with that right now. I’m pretty disappointed with how we played tonight, especially offensively. I thought our guys were ready to play. I thought the guys played hard; we just didn’t play good enough on offense. We’re going to get away for three days and come back. And I know mathematically, I still believe we have a chance, but I want to come back and play better football and challenge the character of our team.”
Both teams got off to a slow start, as neither the 49ers nor the Rams reached the end zone in the first quarter. Purdy completed a 33-yard pass to George Kittle but failed to advance the offense further down the field. LA also struggled, finishing the first quarter scoreless. Jake Moody kicked a 53-yard field goal to give San Francisco a 3-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Blame it on the rain—dropped balls, slippery hands, and incomplete passes that kept the score at 3-0 for much of the first half, with neither the 49ers nor the Rams managing successful drives. Both quarterbacks struggled with passing: Matthew Stafford went 4-for-12 for 23 yards, while Brock Purdy went 9-for-19 for 96 yards. Joshua Karty tied the game at 3-3 with a 48-yard field goal to end the half.
“The weather was the weather in the first half, but even with that, I still think there was some ops for us to convert on third down and move the chains,” said Purdy. For myself, I had to be better for this team and didn’t play my best tonight. Got to watch the film and see what happened and where my mindset was at with each play. But I just feel like I had a lot of plays left out there that I could have made for our team.”
Purdy connected with Kittle for his first completed pass since the opening quarter to start the third quarter. Jake Moody’s 47-yard field goal was good, cutting the deficit to 6-3. With the rain letting up, the Rams capitalized, driving 70 yards to end the third quarter in the red zone—their closest scoring opportunity of the game.
Matthew Stafford scrambled but was tackled by Fred Warner, who delivered an impressive performance with 15 total tackles (8 solo and 7 assisted), including a crucial sack. A penalty on the Rams’ offense pushed them back 10 yards. On the next play, Warner stepped up again with another critical stop. Another penalty on Los Angeles forced them to settle for a 23-yard field goal, tying the game at 6-6.
The 49ers’ defense remained formidable, preventing the Rams from scoring a single touchdown and forcing them to rely on their kicker for points. Dre Greenlaw activated ahead of the game and made an impact with 3 solo tackles and 5 assists. However, as the rain cleared, the Rams found their rhythm. Stafford effectively moved the offense against the stout Niners defense, allowing kicker Karty to seal the victory with three clutch field goals from 23, 27, and 29 yards, ending the game 12-6.
“It felt good. It felt good to be out there with my brothers running around and having fun, man,” Greenlaw said. “It felt good.”
Greenlaw exited the game in the third quarter and did not return. Shanahan said, “he left with his Achilles and knees, just fatigue a little bit and soreness, so he didn’t return.”
“This knee kind of felt a little weird, so I just wanted to protect myself a little bit,” explained Greenlaw. “The knee kind of didn’t feel right and everything kind of got a little tight. Got to make sure I use precaution on it.”
Photo by 49ers/Twitter
