The 49ers gave up two interceptions, two fumbles, and a punt turn for a touchdown in a demeaning loss to the Jaguars, and punctuated this by telling Jacksonville's coach, “I’ll fuck your world up."

If you blew off watching the San Francisco 49ers game to go to Folsom Street Fair on Sunday, you probably made the right call on that one. It was an eventful game alright, but most of these events did not go the 49ers' way. The end result was a baffling 26-21 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars that most people will probably remember from a sour-grapes postgame verbal fracas where a hot mic caught 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh telling Jacksonville coach Liam Coen, “You don't wanna fuck with me. I will fucking end your fucking life."

These are the same lowly Jacksonville Jaguars whom the 49ers had beaten five consecutive times in their previous five matchups.

The 49ers’ very first drive of Sunday’s game had them at 1st and Goal at the Jacksonville seven-yard line, but they settled for a field goal. The Niners then did nothing the rest of the first quarter. On the very first play of the second quarter, backup tight end Luke Farrell fumbled (mind you, we are still without George Kittle). And then on the very next play after that, the 49ers defense allowed Travis Etienne to scamper 48 yards, effectively untouched, for the game’s first touchdown.  

The 49ers would have two turnovers on just the first five plays of the second quarter. They also allowed Jacksonville an 89-yard drive, and a cheap, undeserved field goal inside the two-minute mark of the first half, as their no-Nick-Bosa defense went limp to let Jacksonville score on all but one of their second quarter possessions. The 49ers were down 17-6 halftime in a home game in which they were 3.5-point favorites.

Yet the Niners mounted a comeback in the second half, in which their best weapon was the Jaguars’ ineptitude (a recurring theme for both teams all afternoon). The 49ers stopped the Jaguars on their first drive of the second half, and then promptly drove down the field and capped it off with a clever 10-yard shovel pass and run by Christian McCaffrey. The Niners also got the two-point conversion. And just like that it was 17-14, and the 49ers’ Jaguar-beating sense of normalcy was setting back in.

Well, until this happened. Late in the third quarter, Jaguars returner Parker Washington sprinted for an 87-yard punt return for a touchdown, in which nary a Niner laid a hand on him.

But the Jaguars blew their own two-point attempt on that one, failing to put the game away. Both teams seemed like they were trying to give each other the game: The Niners blew a fourth down attempt early in the fourth quarter, the Jaguars missed a 47-yard field goal that would have iced the game. But you felt like that special Niner magic was kicking in when the Pride of Los Gatos, backup tight end Jake Tonges, hauled in a 21-yard touchdown catch to pull within 26-21. Levi’s Stadium was rollicking with 49er bedlam, and they had all the momentum with half of the fourth quarter still left to go.

And so the 49ers had their perfect comeback story right in front of them: they ultimately had the ball, with 3:35 left in the game, a five-point deficit, and “the Miracle Worker” Brock Purdy in his first game back from a two-week absence. But their attempt at a game-winning drive lasted a measly two plays, as Arik Armistead (who the 49ers cut last March) got his sweet revenge by forcing Purdy to fumble , effectively sealing the 49ers loss.

The national media attention on this game was more focused on a heated verbal exchange between 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh and Jacksonville coach Liam Coen during the postgame handshakes. Earlier in the week, Saleh had remarked to the media that the Jaguars had a "really advanced signal-stealing-type system.” The implication was that Jacksonville was cheating.

The words are not entirely clear in the above video. But there is consensus among the national media that Coen said to Saleh, "Keep my name out of your mouth. Keep my name out of your mouth. Keep my name out of your fucking mouth."

To which the 49ers’ Saleh responded, "I was trying to compliment your ass. I will fuck your world up. You don't wanna fuck with me. I will fucking end your fucking life."

Heck of a compliment!

So the undefeated joyride is over, and the 49ers’ warts are now pronounced enough that the defense can't just bail them out at the very end of each game anymore. But SF is still in first place at 3-1 in the NFC West, albeit in a three-way tie for first place (the Niners currently own the tiebreaker over the Seahawks based on their Week 1 victory).

Next up for the 49ers is a Thursday nighter against the LA Rams this week, which is nice on some level because it does not conflict with Sunday’s Hardly Strictly Bluegrass proceedings. Yes it is one of those Amazon Prime-only games, but the KTVU Fox 2 TV schedule says that station will be broadcasting the game locally.

Related: 49ers Beat Cardinals 16-15 at the Last Second to Stay Undefeated, And Maybe We Finally Have a Kicker We Like [SFist]

Top image: Demarcus Robinson #5 of the San Francisco 49ers catches a pass in front of Andrew Wingard #42 of the Jacksonville Jaguars during the third quarter at Levi's Stadium on September 28, 2025 in Santa Clara, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)