The 49ers lost a 10-point lead over the Rams in the NFC Championship and ultimately lost 20-17. But the reasons why aren’t entirely what you think.
There are going to be moments when fans reflect back upon what could have been when the San Francisco 49ers ultimately fell to the Los Angeles Rams in the 2022 NFC Championship and wonder, “what happened?”
The Niners ultimately lost 20-17, while LA is now heading to Super Bowl LVI to face off against the AFC champion Cincinnati Bengals. Not San Francisco.
Why?
Probably the biggest tell-tale memory will be safety Jaquiski Tartt‘s dropped would-be interception in the fourth quarter with the 49ers holding onto a 17-14 lead. While that might not have sealed the game, it would have at least prevented Los Angeles from scoring on that drive.
It did. Yet that’s not the sole reason (or even the biggest) why the Niners lost the NFC Championship game.
Here are five reasons why San Francisco ultimately lost.
No. 5: Jaquiski Tartt drop did ultimately hurt 49ers
No, it wasn’t the biggest reason. But Tartt’s drop on a 1st-and-10 play with 9:55 remaining in the fourth quarter on a deep pass from Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford could have been a game-changer.
Especially considering how easy of a pick it would have been:
Jaquiski Tartt drops a dime from Matthew Stafford
— PFF (@PFF) January 31, 2022
https://t.co/J6H3phOhyy
The Niners already intercepted Stafford once in the game, which denied LA a prime red-zone scoring opportunity. And in hindsight, with Los Angeles tacking on three points, it was indeed a big play.
The unseen part, though, could have been the shift in momentum. San Francisco was reeling, defensively, in the fourth quarter and everyone saw it unfold. An interception there could have thwarted that shift in momentum and given it back to the 49ers.
Related Story: Jaquiski Tartt apologizes for dropped INT in loss to Rams
Except it didn’t.
Still, though, Tartt’s drop shouldn’t even come close to the biggest reason why the Niners were eliminated.
No. 4: 49ers committed dumb penalties at dumb times
Jaquiski Tartt will wear the dropped would-be interception for some time. But one could argue it wasn’t the worst play for which the defense was responsible.
In fact, there were two other defensive gaffes that ultimately fed into the Rams’ come-from-behind victory.
And both were of the penalty variety.
One play after Tartt’s drop, fellow Jimmie Ward came in with a late hit on LA wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. as he was already down on the turf. That tacked on an additional 15 yards to a play that already gained 29, which ultimately led to that Los Angeles field goal to tie the game at 17.
Earlier, linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair was flagged for taunting wide receiver Cooper Kupp, adding another 15 yards to a 7-yard gain on a 1st-and-10 play from the Rams’ 25-yard line, and LA managed to turn that extended drive into a touchdown early in the fourth quarter.
In total, San Francisco was penalized six times for 54 yards, and all but one of them hurt in one way or another.
Meanwhile, Los Angeles was flagged just twice for 10 yards.
If you want a substantial reason, those flags are a big part of one.
No. 3: 49ers defense couldn’t contain Cooper Kupp, Odell Beckham
As things turned out, San Francisco’s secondary would be the primary problem why the defense wasn’t able to contain Matthew Stafford.
For the most part this season, the 49ers covered this up with an effective pass rush, one which generated only two sacks on Stafford during the game. But the fact the Rams only managed the 20 points still speaks measures about how good the Niners defense could have been.
If it managed to play a bit more effectively on the back end.
Mistakes by Jaquiski Tartt, Jimmie Ward and especially nickel cornerback K’Waun Williams were problematic. Even upstart rookie corner Ambry Thomas looked more like his early season self instead of the promising first-year pro he’d been in recent weeks.
At any rate, and especially in light of San Francisco failing to provide enough double-coverage on Kupp, Stafford managed to throw for 337 yards in the game despite Ward picking him off once.
The Rams’ No. 1 wide receiver, All-Pro Cooper Kupp, was a beast against the 49ers defense, racking up 142 yards on 11 receptions and two touchdowns, while Odell Beckham added another 113 yards on nine catches.
The Niners couldn’t figure out the answer. At all.
No. 2: 49ers couldn’t get their run game going vs. Rams
In Week 10, when San Francisco throttled LA by a score of 31-10, a run-first and ball-controlling offense was vital. In Week 18, the 49ers managed to execute an effective-enough run game to overcome a 17-point deficit.
But whatever ground attack head coach Kyle Shanahan tried to engineer in the NFC Championship game simply didn’t work.
At all.
The final stats tell a lot of the story. Los Angeles held the Niners to a mere 50 yards rushing and an average of only 2.5 yards per carry, frequently stacking the box with seven or eight defenders and not allowing running back Elijah Mitchell or wide receiver Deebo Samuel to get to the outside where fewer defenders were present.
And the runs up the middle simply weren’t working at all either.
This led to San Francisco facing far too many 2nd- and 3rd-and-long downs, where it ultimately went 3-of-9.
Coincidentally, the 49ers defense was awful at preventing the same thing from happening on the flip side, as LA went 11-of-18 on third downs.
No. 1: Jimmy Garoppolo simply wasn’t clutch enough
The NFC Championship game should be another case example why quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo is good enough a quarterback to help a team like the Niners get to the postseason.
But not good enough to get over the proverbial “hump,” especially when San Francisco’s other elements (such as the defense and run game) aren’t working well enough.
Two seasons ago, the loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIV was another case example. Simply put, Garoppolo came up short in both games when the game was on the line. And while fans will point out to his last-ditch interception, which will likely go down as his final play in a 49ers uniform, there were plenty of other missed opportunities and near-disaster plays, too.
Garoppolo overthrew a wide-open tight end George Kittle on the Niners’ opening drive, nearly got Deebo Samuel seriously injured and was almost intercepted again earlier in the fourth quarter by Rams cornerback Jalen Ramsey.
Jimmy G went 16-of-30 for 232 yards, two passing touchdowns against that interception, all for a passer rating of 87.1.
Good enough if San Francisco was getting production from its run game and defense. But when looking at his 3-of-9 mark for 30 yards, the pick and 4.2 passer rating in the fourth quarter, it’s hard to argue he was clutch when he needed to be.
And the 49ers needed him to be in that situation. They’re going home because he wasn’t.