INGLEWOOD — It was a night of mistakes for the Rams. A missed field goal, a blocked point-after attempt, a fumbled toss, dropped passes, errant throws, blown coverages that collectively gave the short-handed San Francisco 49ers hope.
After Eddy Pineiro’s 41-yard field goal put the Rams behind by three in overtime, the Rams still had a chance to come away with a win. And facing fourth-and-1 from the San Francisco 11-yard line, head coach Sean McVay opted to go for the win rather than tie the score.
One timeout by San Francisco’s Kyle Shanahan to set up his defense. Another by McVay to change his play call. And Kyren Williams, running to the right side, stopped short as the Rams fell, 26-23, in overtime.
“It was a bad call by me,” McVay said. “It was a poor decision by me right there. … There’s a lot of things that we have to be able to clean up. A lot of football left, but I’m pretty sick right now. I’m sick of the spot that I put our group in to end the game.”
This should not have been a 49ers offense that could play keep-away from the Rams (3-2). No Brock Purdy, no George Kittle, no Brandon Aiyuk, no Ricky Pearsall, no Jauan Jennings, no problem for the Rams’ defense. Or so you would think.
But after the first quarter, the 49ers had outgained the Rams 139-7 while possessing the ball for 11:50. So much attention was paid to Christian McCaffrey on the goal line on the opening possession that tight end Jake Tonges was wide open for a touchdown.
Then, after a quick Rams punt, the 49ers (4-1) converted two fourth-and-1s to get back to the goal line. Matched up with Rams linebacker Troy Reeder on his second defensive snap of the season, McCaffrey snuck free into the flat for a touchdown and a 14-0 San Francisco lead, the Rams’ biggest deficit of the season.
Receiver Kendrick Bourne terrorized the Rams throughout. He set a career-high with 142 receiving yards on 10 receptions, repeatedly finding open space in the middle of the Rams’ defense. His fight through multiple tackle attempts to gain a first down helped set up Eddy Pineiro’s go-ahead 59-yard field goal with 2:52 to play in the fourth quarter.
And backup quarterback Mac Jones, eating bananas to fight through cramps on the sidelines, completed 33 of 49 attempts for 342 yards and converted two of the 49ers’ three fourth-down attempts on sneaks.
“Just gotta be a little bit more sticky in coverage,” safety Quentin Lake said. “It’s just all about execution.”
The second half didn’t bring any better results for the Rams’ secondary. Darious Williams collided with Tonges early on a low third-down pass, extending a drive that ended in a 49er field goal. That put the Rams back in a 13-point hole.
But quarterback Matthew Stafford had two long drives in him, moving 69 and 83 yards back-to-back to tie the score at 13 on touchdown passes to Puka Nacua and Kyren Williams in the flats. But after missing a 53-yard field-goal attempt in the first half, Josh Karty’s extra-point attempt after the second score was blocked, the fourth blocked kick allowed by the Rams in as many games.
Despite all of that, the Rams had an opportunity to win the game in the final minutes of regulation.
Facing first-and-goal from the San Francisco 3, trailing by three with 1:08 to play, the Rams handed the ball to Williams. The running back fell into the end zone, but only after defensive lineman Alfred Collins ripped the ball from his hands and recovered the fumble.
“I feel like I let the team down on the 1-yard line,” Williams said. “Not securing the one thing that matters and scoring a touchdown. For me, I put this all on me, honestly.”
The Rams then stopped McCaffrey on three consecutive attempts to force a punt and regain possession at midfield. Two check-down passes to Williams got the Rams into field goal range, and Karty’s 48-yard field goal sent the game to overtime.
“We had plenty of chances throughout this game,” McVay said. “We fought, we stayed in it, we battled.”
The 49ers were able to move the ball easily to open overtime, finding free space underneath the coverage to pick up chunks of yards and first downs. A joint sack by Kobie Turner and Byron Young halted the momentum, but the 49ers still went up by a field goal.
The Rams appeared ready to respond and even win, with Stafford finding Tutu Atwell along the right sideline for a 38-yard completion to get to the San Francisco 20. Two short gains to Williams, and it was fourth down.
McVay said he did not consider kicking a field goal, instead wanting to win the game, though he admitted to some regret in hindsight. But Stafford voiced his support for going for the win.
“The play selection was very poor,” McVay said. “I’m sick right now because I put our players in a [expletive] spot and I gotta live with that.”
McVay was late to his postgame press conference, taking extra time to cool down as reporters went into the locker room. As he did take the lectern, one of his players could be heard yelling behind the door in frustration for all the mistakes that led to this result.
“Ultimately, it’s my responsibility,” McVay said. “We weren’t ready to go. … Right now it doesn’t feel good. You were hoping to be able to have a few days off to be able to enjoy it. And this will certainly not make for a great weekend, but it will offer an opportunity for us to continue to show that we’re made of the right stuff, which I have zero doubt. I do think our execution can be much sharper in all three phases, and that’ll be a focal point for us when we come back.”