The San Francisco 49ers' season went out with a whimper Thursday night. It went out sad, wet and cold against a Los Angeles Rams team that struggled to move the ball against them. But the 49ers' offense failed to score a touchdown, and with a 12-6 loss, their playoff hopes are over.
The season is a wrap
The 49ers may technically still be alive, but this ensures that they lose nearly every tiebreaker in the NFC West, and they don't have a real shot at ta Wild Card spot.
They lose the head-to-head tiebreaker against the Rams. They lose the divisional tiebreaker to the Seahawks, who are 2.5 games up on them. They need to beat the Cardinals, technically, to have a chance, but they'd also need the Cardinals to lose to the Rams.
It's over. It's been over. It seemed over early, but it was just about iced when they lost that Week 11 game to the Seattle Seahawks.
They did not answer schematic challenges against man-to-man. Their offensive line was too weak to run the ball effectively. Their defensive line was too weak to stop the run effectively. Their special teams were abysmal.
When the moment mattered, this team curdled. And the two moments in particular were the Deebo Samuel drop on a would-be touchdown, and a Brock Purdy season-concluding interception.
More on Samuel below. But on a 2nd-and-10 at the Rams 33-yard line, with Ricky Pearsall uncovered in the flat for an easy checkdown, he forced it into double coverage to Jauan Jennings down the sideline. Darious Williams picked him off.
That forced throw was representative of the season. It reflected the fact that Jennings was playing at X because Brandon Aiyuk is out for the year, that Jennings lacks the speed to consistently challenge defenses on deep vertical routes, and that the 49ers telegraphed their intention to get him the ball over everyone else time after time. And Brock Purdy forced it.
And now, as is deserved, it's over. It's been over, but now it really is. Questions have already been asked of this team, and only more are to come.
Dre Greenlaw's glorious return, and curious linebacker situation
It's hard to understate just how impressive Dre Greenlaw was. And while energy is an innately impossible thing to quantify, you could feel the impact his presence had.
You wondered if he would be the same after his torn Achilles, and it appeared he was pretty close to it. He was firing on all cylinders, and racked up eight tackles, most of which were massive in the run game or on short passes. Those are areas the 49ers have been pathetic all season long, and his presence showed what they were missing.
In the third quarter, it appeared Greenlaw hit a snap count. His day was done. He had shuffled out for occasional breathers throughout the game, but he took off his helmet and sat down on the bench next to De'Vondre Campbell.
Campbell, by the way, sat on the bench with a towel on his head and later went into the locker room despite having not played in this game (as far as I could tell). Dee Winters had suffered a neck injury, and though he returned at one point, didn't seem like he was going to re-enter the game.
So, Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles was injected at WILL linebacker. He got moved around with ease. Fred Warner, for his part, played the best game he's had since he fractured a bone in his ankle in Week 5 against the Patriots. But the offense put up six points, so it's all moot. So it goes.
The Deebo of it all
It would be lovely to talk about someone other than Deebo Samuel. But unfortunately, the attention the receiver has drawn to himself, coupled with his massive contract and the lack of a real No. 1 receiver in Brandon Aiyuk, means the attention is on Samuel.
In the past, he has dominated the Rams. Thursday night, in what was setting up for an opportunity to shush his critics, he did nothing of the sort.
In this game, Samuel effectively tackled Isaac Guerendo because he was late on a jet motion. He also had a glaring, lazy false start that turned a 3rd-and-4 into a 3rd-and-9.
He had two carries for three yards and one catch for 16 yards. He had two other targets in the passing game, both of which were drops. One of them was damning. It was a would-be touchdown on a play designed for him. It hit him square in the abdomen, and he dropped it. That touchdown would have the 49ers potentially still alive this season. Instead, it's over.
He did have a lengthy return with 20 second remaining, and drew a horse collar penalty, giving the 49ers 11 seconds with the ball on the 50 and needing a touchdown. Credit there. Credit nowhere else.