No single play ever decides the outcome of a game, but for the Los Angeles Rams in Week 6, there were a select few that played a huge role in their 20-7 loss to the 49ers. A couple of them were mental mistakes, too, which makes it even worse.
These five plays had a huge impact on the outcome of Sunday’s loss, proving to be game-changers at the end of the day. Had the Rams either not made these mistakes or capitalized on the opportunities, the outcome could’ve been different.
Darrell Henderson’s fumble
This one really stung. After the Rams escaped the first half tied at seven, they got the ball to start the second half. On the very first play from scrimmage, Henderson dropped the pitch from Jared Goff and the 49ers recovered it at the Rams’ 17-yard line. Four plays later, Jimmy Garoppolo found the end zone on a quarterback sneak to put the 49ers up 14-7.
There’s no telling what might’ve happened on the drive had Henderson not fumbled it, but the end result couldn’t have been any worse than giving the 49ers the ball inside the red zone after one play.
Dante Fowler Jr.’s offsides penalty
This one play by itself didn’t decide the game for the Rams, but it absolutely helped the 49ers in a big way. On third-and-8 from their own 38-yard line in the first quarter, Garoppolo was sacked by Cory Littleton after he tried to escape the pocket. It appeared as though the Rams were going to take over following a punt, but Fowler was caught offsides on the play, thus giving the 49ers another chance.
They made the most of it, marching down the field to tie the game at seven. Without that penalty, the drive would’ve ended right there and the Rams would’ve gotten the ball back, leading 7-0.
Mike Thomas’ negated fumble recovery
Thomas strictly plays special teams, so his impact on a game should be minimal. It was significant on Sunday, and not in a good way. On fourth-and-20, the Rams punted the ball away to midfield. It bounced and caught a 49ers player in the leg, and Thomas recovered the ball. Great news, right? Wrong.
Thomas committed an illegal shift penalty before the snap when he went in motion and moved upfield rather than laterally, which is a foul. So rather than the Rams getting the ball at midfield and trailing 14-7, the 49ers retained possession and scored three points on the ensuing drive.
49ers’ goal line stand
This was a huge momentum shifter. With under four minutes in the first half and the score tied 7-7, Sean McVay got aggressive and went for it on fourth down from the 49ers’ 1-yard line – a good decision with poor execution. After Darrell Henderson got the Rams down to the goal line, he was pulled for Malcolm Brown.
Brown ran it straight up the middle twice from the 1-yard line out of the same formation: one tight end on each side and two receivers in tight. He was stopped both times and the 49ers took over on downs. They marched down the field and nearly tacked on three points, but Robbie Gould’s 55-yard try came up well short.
Cory Littleton’s dropped pick-six
On the 49ers’ final drive of the first half, Littleton nearly made a play to completely flip the game on its head. San Francisco was driving in hopes of scoring at least three points when Littleton read Garoppolo’s eyes, stepped in front of the throw and almost picked it off. He would’ve gone 55 yards the other way for a touchdown with only green grass in front of him.
These drops by defensive players happen every week, but not all of them would’ve resulted in six points for the defense. That’s a play Littleton has to make and one he would love to have back.
Fortunately, the 49ers didn’t score on that drive, but that should’ve been six points going the other way.
