49ers Film Review: How San Francisco lost the NFC Championship Game

The 2021 NFC Championship Game came down to a series of five plays early in the fourth quarter.

San Francisco held a 17-14 lead with 11:52 left in the game and possession of the ball near midfield after Jimmy Garoppolo hit Elijah Mitchell for 21 yards to start the 49ers possession, then connected with Deebo Samuel on a short throw to the right side for 12.

1st and 10, 49ers 47 – George Kittle leads the way for Elijah Mitchell over the left guard with a nice block on Rams safety Eric Weddle and Mitchell picks up a gain of 9.

2nd and 1, Rams 44 – After seeing the success of the first down play, Kyle Shanahan decides to flip the play and run it again out of a slightly different formation. Another difference here is they are asking wide receiver Trent Sherfield to get the block on Weddle this time. Sherfield isn’t able to get to Weddle in time, and the safety drops Mitchell in the backfield for a loss of 1.

3rd and 2, Rams 45 – Shanahan tries to draw the eyes of the Rams defense to open up an inside run by Kyle Juszczyk by putting left tackle Trent Williams in the backfield and sending him in motion to the right side. The Los Angeles defenders pay no attention to Williams and Rams defensive lineman Greg Gaines beats the block of Daniel Brunskill to drop Juszczyk for no gain.

Holding on to a three point lead at this point, Kyle Shanahan chooses to punt the ball away instead of going for it on fourth down.

1^st and 10, Rams 16

Matthew Stafford fakes the handoff and throws it deep down the middle of the field and the only person in the area is 49ers safety Jaquiski Tartt. Instead of San Francisco taking over possession, the ball hits Tartt’s hands and falls to the ground for an incompletion.

2nd and 10, Rams 16

Emmanuel Moseley bites on the short out from Cooper Kupp, leaving Odell Beckham Jr. all alone along the left sideline. Stafford sees this and puts the ball on Beckham for a 29-yard gain. Jimmie Ward tries to go low to make the tackle but ends up hitting Beckham in the head and is flagged for a personal foul. The completion and ensuing penalty give Los Angeles a 44-yard gain.

The 49ers went from a chance for a first down, to a turnover being dropped, to Los Angeles having the ball on their side of the field in what seemed like the blink of an eye.

This series of plays flipped all of the momentum over to the Rams who would go on to score the final six points of the game and earn a trip to Super Bowl LVI.