Heading into the matchup, many believed the winner of the game would be determined by which quarterback would commit the fewest amount of mistakes. And for nearly four full quarters, that QB appeared to be San Francisco's Jimmy Garoppolo. That was until the 49ers' final drive of the game when disaster struck. But long before an all around collapse by San Francisco and Jimmy G's costly mistake, coach Shanahan appeared to have the upper hand yet again against his old buddy McVay. Having swept the Rams in the regular season for the third consecutive season and seeking their seventh straight victory over L.A., the 49ers were able to keep the Rams' high-powered offense off the scoreboard in the first quarter as the two teams headed into the second quarter scoreless. After both teams exchanged three and out punts to open the game, the Rams marched their way to the red zone before an interception from quarterback Matt Stafford inside the 5-yardline. Getting a hand on a pass intended for L.A.'s Cooper Kupp was San Francisco's K'Waun Williams who's battled ball fell right into the lap of teammate Jimmie Ward who hauled in his third interception of the season, all against Stafford.
Though they would miss the opportunity on their first trip to the red zone, Stafford would capitalize on their second chance, finding Kupp all alone in the end zone for the easy touchdown to cap off a 97-yard drive, their longest of the season. Answering with a touchdown of their own, the 49ers setup shop within striking distance after a big play along the sideline from Garoppolo to Brandon Aiyuk. Several plays later, the Niners' biggest play-maker this season would show up once again when Deebo Samuel caught a screen-pass and took it 44-yards to the house for the score. When the Rams failed to convert on a go-ahead 54-yard field goal from kicker Matt Gay on their ensuing possession, the 49ers' Robbie Gould showed his counterpart just how its done as the Niners got him within range to bang thru a 38-yarder to give San Francisco a 10-7 lead at the half. Gould would extend his perfect mark in the postseason with another field goal to make him 21-for-21, the most makes without a miss in the Super Bowl era. After the 49ers punted away their first possession of the second half, the Rams turned the ball over on downs when a QB sneak attempt from a yard out went awry. Taking advantage of the stop, the 49ers would add to their lead when Garoppolo hit tight-end George Kittle in the end zone for a 16-yard touchdown, the first of Kittle's career in the postseason.
Entering the fourth quarter trailing by 10, the Rams would answer with a touchdown of their own when Stafford connected with Cooper Kupp in the end zone for a second time. Bringing his team within a field goal, Kupp who won the triple-crown this year among NFL wide-outs, became the first receiver in league history to have three games of 100+ receiving yards against a single opponent in a single season as the 49ers' secondary continued to struggle and failed to find an answer for the 2022 All-Pro. And just when the Rams began to finally show a late surge of offense, San Francisco suddenly couldn't find any of their own as the offense punted on each of their first two possessions of the fourth quarter, and both times, the Rams would add a field goal. But before the field goal that ultimately tied the game at 17-all, the biggest play of the game for San Francisco would be the one that never happened when safety Jaquiski Tartt failed to come up with a gimme interception that would've came up clutch and put San Francisco in prime position to add to their lead late with under 10 minutes remaining. Reminding us all why he's a defensive-back and not a receiver, Tartt fell to the ground in disbelief when he bobbled what should've been an easy pick.
Instead of adding to their lead, the 49ers quickly found themselves trailing by a field goal with just under two minutes remaining after a second field goal from Matt Gay. In desperate need of a score to either tie the game or take the lead, things began to sputter and the offensive-line started shuffling at the worse possible time. Facing a 3rd and 13, pressure would be applied to Garoppolo from Aaron Donald who had been quiet up to that point, forcing the Niners signal-caller to get off an errant shovel pass that tipped off the hands of his target in JaMycal Hasty and into the hands of a Rams defender to seal the game, 20-17, Rams. Sadly for the 49ers, a 10-point fourth quarter lead and a stadium invasion as red-clad Niner fans took over L.A.'s SoFi Stadium yet again, proved to not be enough when it was all said and done.
In what's likely to be the final game of QB Jimmy Garoppolo's career in San Francisco, the Niners signal-caller finished with 232 passing yards, 2 touchdowns and 1 interception. As for his counterpart, Matthew Stafford threw for 337 yards, 2 touchdowns and 1 interception. Neither team would do a whole lot on the ground, making way for big games through the air from San Francisco's Deebo Samuel and the Rams' tandem of Cooper Kupp and Odell Beckham Jr. Finishing with 4 receptions for 72 yards and a touchdown, Deebo also added another 26 yards on 7 carries to give him 2,061 scrimmage yards on the year, the most by a WR in a single season in 49ers history (including playoffs), surpassing Hall of Famer Jerry Rice's mark of 2,006 scrimmage yards in 1995. As for L.A.'s dynamic duo, Kupp finished with 11 receptions for 142 yards and 2 touchdowns, becoming only the third Ram ever to haul in 2+ touchdowns in a playoff game. Meanwhile, Beckham had his most productive outing since Week 6 of 2019, catching nine balls for 113 yards to snap a drought of 33 straight games without 100+ receiving yards.
Another noteworthy performance was that of San Francisco's Nick Bosa. Only three years into his young career and two trips to the playoffs, Bosa tallied another 1.5 sacks on Sunday, passing Hall of Famer Charles Haley (7.5) for the most postseason sacks by a 49ers player since sacks became an official stat in 1982. After missing virtually all of last season after blowing out his knee, Bosa has 0.5+ sacks in each of his six career playoff games, the second longest streak since sacks became official. With a record of 15-6 when leading by 10+ points at any point in the game since 2020 (including playoffs), San Francisco's six losses are the most losses by any team in the NFL in that span. As for the Rams who are 2-23 when trailing by 10+ points in the second half under coach McVay, at least his team knows how to pick them as both wins have come in the NFC Championship game. Adding salt to the wound for Niner fans everywhere, the Rams overcame a fourth quarter deficit of 10+ points to win a game for the first time since Week 1 of the 2013 season (vs Arizona), this after 49 straight losses in such situations.
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