For the Niners, plenty of rain but not a touchdown

It was an awful way for the San Francisco 49ers to end the season, in the rain at Levi’s Stadium, without a touchdown, and with a 12-6 loss to the Los Angeles Rams. No, the Niner’s season is technically not done, but after Thursday night’s depressing defeat, everyone who is a realist understands that’s it for 2024.

Never mind the playoffs. You have to wonder if the 6-8 Niners even have a chance at finishing the season with a .500 record. To make matters worse—as if they could get worse—one of San Francisco’s defensive linemen, De’Vondre Campbell, refused to return to the game in the third quarter. “I’m not going in,” he reportedly told the coaches.

San Francisco at least played effectively on defense, but the offense was alarmingly poor, managing only two field goals by Jake Moody. That started with the game plan by head coach Kyle Shanahan, continued through quarterback Brock Purdy, and went down to boastful wide receiver Deebo Samuel, who had spent the week insisting he wanted more opportunities with the ball. As if answering his demand, the Niners called a pass to Samuel the very first play from scrimmage. It was incomplete.

Samuel eventually caught three passes for 16 yards but gained only three yards on two carries. “The rain impacted us from running as well as we could,” Samuel explained. “We got to do better. It was frustrating.” That word can also be applied to the Niners performance this year.  Indeed, they had far too many injuries, including such key players as running back Christian McCaffrey—who will not return until next season-—and defensive stars Nick Bosa and Drew Greenlaw, who were able to come back to face the Rams.

Yet every team has injuries and when the Niners lost players, they also seemed to lose their heart.  Everything that could go wrong went wrong for many games, including this one on offense.

“We had offensive struggles,” admitted Shanahan, stating the obvious. “They got their run game going better than we did” (the Rams racked up 142 rushing yards compared to San Francisco’s 63). “LA played well and we left a lot out there. Deebo on third down didn’t catch the ball. That was a big one.” 

The Niners were swept by the Rams for the first time in six years. Can you imagine what it was like for the home fans, getting drenched and then being unable to cheer for a single TD? 

And can you imagine what it was like for Purdy, who had one of his poorest games? He was under constant pressure from the Rams, who came in prepared with methods of keeping the Niners QB scrambling, throwing incompletions (14 for 31 for 142 yards) and an interception. It was a career-worst for Purdy, who gained fame as “Mr. Relevant”, the last man picked in the draft. 

“Obviously this one hurts,” said Purdy. “We have lots of people ready to fight to finish out the season the right way. We had opportunities that we didn’t convert out. I didn’t play my best tonight. I left a lot of plays. I could have been better for my team. The defense did a great job.”

Oh well, someday the sun will shine again.