QB Brian Hoyer, 49ers fall to 0-3 with 41-39 loss to Rams.
Entertaining game features 26 points in last 13 minutes
The NFL’s youngest head coaches did some serious aging Thursday night.
In a 60-minute, filled-with-suspense, rollercoaster ride of a game, the 49ers fell to the Rams 41-39 on Thursday night at Levi’s Stadium.
Los Angeles’ Sean McVay, 31, the youngest head coach in NFL history, had to sweat out the final frantic minutes as the 49ers nearly staged an improbable rally from a 15-point, fourth-quarter deficit.
Meanwhile, the 49ers’ Kyle Shanahan, 37, gained an even better understanding of this: The whole rebuilding of a 2-14 team thing isn’t easy.
With the loss, which featured the 49ers’ first touchdowns of the season, the 49ers fell to 0-3 and extended their franchise-record home losing streak to nine games dating to Sept. 12,
2016.
“I was proud of the guys how we fought,” Shanahan said. “We just need to get better.”
Four days after losing a defensive struggle in Seattle, the 49ers dropped a highscoring affair in Santa Clara.
In a game featuring 839 yards, 51 first downs and 26 points in the final 13 minutes, the 49ers trailed 41-26 midway through the fourth quarter before rallying.
How did they do it? Simple. All it took in a three-minute span was a touchdown, a recovered fumble on a kickoff return, another touchdown and a recovered onside kick. The recovered kick gave them the ball at midfield with 2:10 left needing just a field goal to win.
However, the rally ended 26 seconds later. On 4th-and-20, quarterback Brian Hoyer was sacked to end the suspense.
“I felt pretty strongly that we didn’t play to our capabilities in the first couple weeks,” Shanahan said. “By no means did we today, but I thought we did improve on the offensive side of the ball.”
Indeed, the 49ers, who had 12 points, 24 first downs and averaged 232.5 yards in their first two games, had 421 yards and 25 first downs. Hoyer completed 23 of 37 passes for 332 yards with two touchdowns and an interception he threw on the first play of the game that led to a three-yard touchdown drive.
Trailing 41-26 midway through the fourth quarter, the 49ers’ four-play, 64-yard drive was highlighted by a 59-yard reception by Pierre Garcon (seven catches, 142 yards) and capped by a 3-yard pass from Hoyer to rookie wide receiver Trent Taylor.
On the ensuing kickoff, Los Angeles’ Pharoh Cooper fumbled after a hit from Victor Bolden and the loose ball was recovered by Aldrick Robinson at the Rams’ 29-yard line. The 49ers turned the turnover into a 1-yard run by Carlos Hyde on 4th-and-goal, but the Hoyer’s two-point conversion pass was incomplete. The 49ers had to go for two because of Robbie Gould’s missed extra-point try earlier in the fourth quarter.
The offense did enough to win the game, but the defense was dominated.
The 49ers’ defense played 79 snaps four days earlier in a 12-9 loss to Seattle and might have been gassed. Whatever the case, they were gashed.
After allowing three total touchdowns and an average of 299.5 yards in their two games, the Rams had four touchdowns, 318 yards and a 34-20 lead after just three quarters. Quarterback Jared Goff, a Marin County native making his first NFL start in the Bay Area, had a happy homecoming. The Cal alum completed 22 of 28 passes for 292 yards and three touchdowns.
The Rams had two 100-yard receivers in Robert Woods (108) and Sammy Watkins (106). Running back Todd Gurley had 149 total yards and three touchdowns.
“I think it had a huge effect on my body,” inside linebacker NaVorro Bowman of the quick turnaround. “I’ve done everything to get my body as close to ready for this game as possible, but we signed up for this. The schedule is out, and we have to play these games. But there’s no way I felt the way I felt on Sunday today.”
The 49ers will now get some much-needed rest. They will have three days off before returning to work.
“I don’t really care about the record right now,” Shanahan said. “I care about how guys are responding to it. I want the guys to come back Monday ready to go and ready to fight to get the first win.”