49ers defense allows 13 unanswered fourth-quarter points in NFC Championship loss to Rams

With 9:55 left in the fourth quarter of the NFC Championship Game, Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford dropped back to deliver a deep pass.

Stafford’s throw was underthrown and fell into the hands of San Francisco 49ers safety Jaquiski Tartt. Tartt bobbled it and the fell right through his hands. The 49ers defense made plays in Sunday’s game, but the dropped interception came back to haunt them. The Rams went down the field to tie the game, then later charged back down the field to kick the winning field goal in the 20-17 Los Angeles win.

“We almost had a chance to get it right back,” 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said. “But we missed that pick and those guys got going and got into a rhythm.”

Shanahan added later, “I haven’t gotten a chance to talk to (Tartt). Tartt has done a lot of good things. I thought he was one of the best players on the field last week against Green Bay… I know he’s disappointed in the drop he had, but there were a lot of other plays in the game. I’m very happy (he) was on our team this year.”

The Rams were able to tie the game with a field goal with 6:49 left and then kicked a go-ahead 30-yard field goal. The lead stood up as Jimmy Garroppolo threw a late interception.

After the game ended, Tartt took to Twitter to express his feelings about the dropped interception.

“No excuses!! I deserve all the criticism my way! Opportunity I dream of I came up short!!! Let my brothers down!! It Still won’t define me as a person/player. Only will get stronger and better.”

In the final 13:30 of the game, the 49ers defense allowed 13 unanswered points after San Francisco held a 17-3 lead. The defense struggled to get off the field on third down early and gave up 396 total yards and allowed 25 first downs.

A bright spot for the 49ers defense came in the first quarter when safety Jimmie Ward intercepted a pass in the red zone that kept the game scoreless. Samson Ebukam had a half a sack and Nick Bosa had 1.5 sacks.

Ambry Thomas finished with a game-high 13 tackles and Fred Warner added 10.

“I feel like they made more plays than us,” Ward said. “I am proud of my team… There were a lot of plays out there, we could’ve done better, including myself.”

This story was originally published January 30, 2022 at 7:33 PM.