The 49ers lost some pretty significant ground in the playoff race with a 42-26 loss to the LA Rams on Sunday, and are now nearly two games behind those Rams and the Seahawks in the NFC West standings.

The San Francisco 49ers got into a pretty wild, back-and-forth-touchdown shootout against the Los Angeles Rams Sunday afternoon at Levi’s Stadium. The problem was that the 49ers didn't start scoring any of their touchdowns until there were just three minutes left in the first half, and they were already down 21-0, so the end result was a 42-26 loss to the Rams.

But it could have been worse. Donald Trump could have showed up, like he did for the Washington Commanders-Detroit Lions game, where as seen above, he was booed pretty relentlessly. And fans watching that broadcast on Fox were forced to listen to Trump ramble for however long he wanted over the course of the game (if you must, you can watch that eight-minute-long embarrassment here).

Though as noted, the Rams had already jumped to a 21-0 lead Sunday before the Niners even got their shit together and started playing competitively. You can see some of the worthlessly sloppy tacking by an injury-depleted 49ers defense on the 22-yard touchdown catch by the Rams’ Puka Nacua above. Indeed, at the end of the first quarter, the Rams had 180 yards of total offense, the 49ers had but 50 yards.

The Niners finally showed some spark in the mid-second quarter when kick returner Sky Moore had a very nice 27-yard kick return, George Kittle made a clutch 11-yard grab on fourth-and-two, and Jauan Jennings caught the above six-yard touchdown pass from Mac Jones to at least get something-anything on the scoreboard before halftime.

And resurgent journeyman backup quarterback Mac Jones still had a fabulous game, going 33-of-39 for 319 yards and three touchdowns, notching an impressive 115.7 QB rating. Just look at Jones getting out of trouble and improvising this nine-yard touchdown pass to backup tight end Luke Farrell (the extra point would be blocked). But it was early fourth quarter, and the 49ers were officially being pesky, and officially keeping up step-for-step with the high-powered Rams offense.

It would not last. Mac Jones threw an interception on a fourth down that basically ended the game (George Kittle actually made that fourth-down conversion on the previous play, though the refs called it back on a completely inaccurate illegal-shift penalty call). The Rams iced it with a 16-yard Cody Parkinson touchdown that served as LA’s sixth touchdown of the afternoon.  

But we have to acknowledge George Kittle’s phenomenal effort on this garbage-time touchdown with less than three minutes left in this lost cause of a game. He dances like Baryshnikov to keep his feet in bounds, and then lunges to get just the tip of the ball into the end zone for a score. Though alas, the two-point conversion attempt would be no good.

And so this morning, the 49ers find themselves a game-and-a-half behind both these Rams and the Seattle Seahawks in the NFC West race, after dominating the division for most of September and October. And the Seahawks are actually the current No 1 seed in the NFC? That’s fucked up.

What's worse, if the season ended today, the 49ers would not make the playoffs. They are now the eight-seed in the NFC, and only seven teams make the playoffs. So the Niners are now on the wrong side of the bubble. Though hey, even the mighty Kansas City Chiefs currently find themselves in the exact same position, and there are still seven games left in the regular season.

And so the Niners will move on to face the Arizona Cardinals this Sunday in Glendale, Arizona with a 1 pm PT kickoff. The sportsbooks currently have them as three-point favorites, and maybe Brock Purdy will be playing again. But from here on out, these relatively easier games are must-wins, because the 49ers are playing catch-up now and cannot afford to fall any further behind in the division.

Related: 49ers Get Bulldozed 26-15 By a Houston Texans Team Wearing Very Strange One-Off Uniforms [SFist]

Image: SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA - NOVEMBER 09: Tyler Higbee #89 of the Los Angeles Rams celebrates while Puka Nacua #12 of scores a receiving touchdown against Upton Stout #20 and Jordan Elliott #92 of the San Francisco 49ers in the first quarter of a game at Levi's Stadium on November 09, 2025 in Santa Clara, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)