(Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
For a game that could’ve clinched a playoff spot and played a crucial role in keeping the 49ers’ NFC West title hopes in an advantageous position, San Francisco had a letdown in their last second 29-22 loss on Sunday to the Atlanta Falcons. The 49ers played a poor game and bungled away a chance to win, but thanks to the Rams’ 44-21 loss, they clinched their first playoff berth in six years.
With 1:48 left on the clock, the 49ers defense couldn’t stop Matt Ryan and Co. from driving 70 yards down the field. The decider was a Ryan to Julio Jones — who finished with 138 receiving yards and 13 catches — four yard TD pass that barely broke the plane, their second TD connection of the day. With two seconds remaining all that was left was a last ditch lateral drill on the ensuing kickoff that ended up leading to another, albeit meaningless for the non-betting public, Falcons touchdown.
It was an inconsistent all-around performance by the 49ers, but one constant was George Kittle.
It was the Kittle-Jimmy Garoppolo connection that kept things moving in the first half, along with a 37-yard Tevin Coleman rush against his former team. Garoppolo finished the first half 10-of-18 with 76 yards, and at least three passes which could have been intercepted. To Kittle, however, he was 7-of-9 for 65 yards.
Kittle passed Rob Gronkowski (2,663) for the second-most receiving yards by a tight end in their first three seasons in the first half. He then closed in on Mike Ditka’s record of 2,774 yards and passed it in the third quarter, with his 12th catch and 131st yard, moving Kittle, at 2,777 yards, above Ditka.
Outside of that Kittle connection, and some solid Raheem Mostert running (seven carries, 30 yards), the offense wasn’t imposing, but was most impressive on a 21-play first quarter touchdown drive which took a whopping 10:43 off the clock.
The Falcons followed that up with their own touchdown drive, lasting 5:53. The Falcons’ version of the Garoppolo-Kittle connection is the long-established Ryan-to-Jones connection, which tormented Emmanuel Moseley.
The less-than-exciting first half ended 10-10, and the second half was off to an equally underwhelming start. Both teams punted once, before a 46-yard Robbie Gould field goal gave the 49ers a 13-10 lead.
It remained slow until Matt Breida fumbled the ball over to the Falcons (after fumbling out of bounds just prior to that). Fred Warner nearly responded with an interception, but it was broken up by teammate D.J. Reed, who didn’t know Warner was in the area. When the 49ers offense was stifled again, Ross Dwelley and Kyle Juszczyk picked it up, literally.
Dwelley forced a fumble on the punt return by Kenjon Barner, and Juszczyk recovered, nearly running it in for a touchdown. He was clipped at the one-yard line, but head coach Kyle Shanahan seemed determined to get him in the end zone, running with Juszczyk (which failed) and then setting up a touchdown pass to him from Garoppolo on the following play. Robbie Gould pulled the ensuing extra point attempt, making it 19-10.
That should have been enough to win fairly comfortably, but the Falcons prevented the 49ers from feeling any sense of comfort all game long. The Falcons came down the field fairly quick, with a Jimmie Ward pass interference call in the end zone setting up a one-yard rushing touchdown by Atlanta’s Quadre Ollison.
With just a 19-17 lead, the 49ers’ provided a necessarily slow response with key receptions by receivers who all stayed in bounds, except for the always-reliable Kittle.
Juszcyzk caught a four-yard pass, with Raheem Mostert following that for an eight-yard, first down run. Deebo Samuel, who also stayed in bounds, then had a crucial 29-yard catch and run.
After a two-yard Mostert rush and an Emmanuel Sanders reception (again, in bounds), the 49ers were left with a third-and-four with two Atlanta timeouts to effectively ice the game. It was time for Kittle.
Garoppolo hit him on a screen pass, and he had enough open grass to get to the first-down marker. Instead, in shocking fashion, he fumbled a yard short of the first down.
Gould, who had failed on the extra point earlier, then knocked through a 43-yard field goal to put San Francisco up 22-17. After the return, Atlanta had 1:42 with one timeout at their own 30-yard line to get a touchdown.
It was the Ryan and Jones show again, with Ryan avoiding multiple times he should have been sacked. The key play was a 25-yard connection to Jones with 1:11 remaining which took the ball from the SF 49 to the SF 24-yard line.