INGLEWOOD – Jauan Jennings’ three touchdown catches — and 11 receptions overall for 175 yards — should have been enough for the 49ers to bury a wounded Rams team Sunday.
Instead, the 49ers blew it.
The short-handed Rams pulled out their first win of the season by rallying from a 24-14, fourth-quarter deficit to claim a 27-24 home-opening victory at SoFi Stadium, where the majority of fans wore red 49ers jerseys — and unhappy faces as they exited.
Joshua Karty’s 37-yard field goal with two seconds remaining gave the Rams their first lead — and the only one they needed to hand the 49ers (1-2) a second straight road loss.
The 49ers attempted a seven-lateral desperation play in the final seconds and reached Rams territory before Jake Brendel’s toss to Brandon Aiyuk bounded out of bounds to end one of the 49ers’ most frustrating losses in years. It was also their first regular-season defeat at SoFi Stadium in five years.
As was the case in the 2021 season’s regular-season finale here, the 49ers blew a 10-point fourth-quarter lead.
The 49ers, after back-to-back road games, return to Levi’s Stadium to host the New England Patriots and then the Arizona Cardinals over the next two Sundays. The Rams avoided their first 0-3 start since 2011, when they were stationed in St. Louis and finished 2-14 that year.
The 49ers needed their defense to protect a 24-17 lead with 2:43 remaining. They couldn’t. Rams running back Kyren Williams matched Jennings with a third touchdown in this NFC West battle, tying the score at 24 with 1:51 to go in regulation. That game-tying drive by the Rams opened with Matthew Stafford completing a 50-yard strike to Tutu Atwell at the 5-yard line against Charvarius Ward’s coverage.
The 49ers’ ensuing drive didn’t even take a minute off the clock, hindered most by a Ronnie Bell drop of a long second-and-10 pass deep in Rams territory.
That offensive failure, which followed 49ers defensive failures, set the stage for a special teams gaffe. The 49ers allowed a punt return to reach midfield, and the Rams had 41 seconds to drive for the winning points.
Wasted was Jennings’ best day as a pro. Of his 11 receptions for 175 yards, three came on the offense’s final series, when they needed one more catch from him or anyone else.
Jake Moody’s 26-yard field goal gave the 49ers a 24-14 lead to protect over the game’s final 12 minutes. That 13-play, 62-yard scoring drive opened with Jennings’ catches of 32 and 14 yards, and Purdy’s runs kept the sticks moving until Moody was summoned.
The Rams responded with their own field goal, a 33-yarder that followed Sam Okuayinonu’s third-down sack.
The 49ers figured to have scored their win-clinching play when Purdy connected on a 31-yard touchdown pass to Jennings, who kept running through the end zone into the SoFi Stadium tunnel with his right index finger pointing in the air. That was the dagger the 49ers needed, the type of third-down conversion that proved this offense could survive without Christian McCaffrey, Deebo Samuel and George Kittle.
However, Jennings’ third score came only midway through the third quarter. That allowed ample time for a Rams’ comeback. Purdy threw touchdown passes to Jennings on the 49ers’ opening two drives, and it looked like a rout was on, up until the Rams resorted to a fake punt to keep alive a touchdown drive and pull within 14-7.
Jennings’ only previous game with two touchdown receptions was here in the 2021 regular-season finale, a 27-24 win. Those scoring strikes were tossed by Deebo Samuel and Jimmy Garoppolo.
Purdy completed 22-of-30 passes for 292 yards, and he also ran 10 times for 41 yards to give the 49ers a complementary rushing effort next to starter Jordan Mason, who had 19 carries for 77 yards after reaching 100 yards in each of his two preceding starts in place of Christian McCaffrey.
While so much pregame focus was on whether Brandon Aiyuk would live up to his extension paying $30 million annually, it was Jennings who produced in the red zone and further validated the two-year, $15 million contract he signed in May as an apparent bargain. Jennings’ most acrobatic catch came in the third quarter: an over-the-back, 32-yard reception. Purdy went back to Jennings two snaps later for a 14-yard grab amid three defenders.
After Jennings’ third touchdown, the Rams answered with their own touchdown drive, capped by Kyren Williams’ 3-yard scoring run once Renardo Green’s holding penalty set up first-and-goal.
Williams scored the Rams’ previous touchdown on a 15-yard catch-and-run-and-flip over the goal line 1:11 before halftime. Williams beat De’Vondre Campbell before flipping over Talanoa Hufanga to pull the Rams within 14-7.
The 49ers’ last drive before the half ended when Purdy coughed up the ball on a strip-sack fumble. One play earlier, left tackle Williams went down to the turf grabbing at his left calf. Williams walked to the locker room and returned to play the second half. The 49ers announced he was suffering from cramps; Williams required two IVs to combat cramps in the Sept. 9 opener.
After going 3-and-out on their first two drives in previous games, the 49ers marched 70 yards for a touchdown on Sunday’s opener. They did so with authority. Jordan Mason delivered runs of 6, 7, 7, and 4 yards, then made a 7-yard catch for first down at the Rams’ 13-yard line. That led to Purdy’s first touchdown pass to Jennings for a 7-0 lead.
The 49ers’ defense forced a 3-and-out on its opening series, with Hufanga making their first tackle on his first snap since an ACL tear 10 months ago.
In the end, though, the 49ers collapsed without their offensive stars. They led for more than 54 minutes and still lost to their division rivals.
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