San Francisco 49ers quarterback Sam Darnold (14) is congratulated by his teammates after scoring a touchdown in the second quarter of their NFL game at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., on Sunday, Jan. 7, 2024. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)
The 49ers didn’t want to be on the field Sunday.
The Rams didn’t either.
And with both teams already in the playoffs, it created a new kind of meaningless football — a challenge to do as little as possible for 60 televised minutes.
Credit to both teams: they both did a great job. Almost nothing of serious consequence happened — good or bad. Both teams will head into the playoffs effectively rested.
Oh, and the Niners lost 21-20 to end the regular season 12-5.
As for the players that were on the field, here were the studs and duds:
Studs
All of us
We made it through the season. We made it through this glorified preseason game.
Sam Darnold
I don’t think the 49ers would be in good hands should Brock Purdy go down with an injury — let’s not get carried away here.
But Darnold looked pretty good handing the ball off and ripping a few third-down passes against the second-string of a mediocre, young defense. I refuse to look up his numbers — I’m going off feel here.
You could do a lot worse at backup quarterback. Which we knew already.
Elijah Mitchell
The running back made the most of his carries on Sunday, toting the rock 14 times for 52 yards and a touchdown when everyone in the stadium knew he was going to get the ball.
Ray Ray McCloud
Looked good in his return, catching three passes for 22 yards. More importantly, he was back to return punts.
Taylor Hawkins
The Ball Hawk! Sorry, I was trying to drum up some excitement there.
He had a nice interception after being promoted from the practice squad. I won’t hold his pass inference call against him — he had more of a right to that ball than the receiver.
Samuel Womack
A really good special teams player looked capable on the outside. He was burned for a touchdown by Tyler Johnson in the third quarter, but that was a ridiculous throw followed by an incredible catch. I can’t hold that against him.
DUDS
Jake Moody
Well, that’s an inauspicious ending.
Moody’s slices from 38 and then 33 (PAT) will provide two weeks of fodder — and perhaps a bit more — going into the playoffs. Less than ideal.
And to think: If Darnold hadn’t fumbled at the end, he could have redeemed himself from 60 yards.
Randy Gregory
Even when playing almost every step, and solely against backups, Gregory still couldn’t set an edge. The injury to Clelin Ferrell better not be serious — Gregory isn’t worthy of playoff snaps.
Javon Kinlaw
Finally did something good with 3:30 to go in the fourth quarter. He might have played every snap, but you’d never know based on his performance.
Kyle Shanahan
Deebo Samuel on an end-around carry in the first quarter?
Brandon Aiyuk playing multiple series?
Trent Williams being in the game at all?
Fred Warner, Javon Hargrave, Nick Bosa, and Charvarius Ward all playing serious snaps in the first half?
I know that the 49ers couldn’t rest everyone, but they could have tried a bit harder. Worst-case scenario, a starter has to play against many backups in the second half.
Or you can play 11-on-10.
It worked out — the only injury of the game was Ferrell, and he probably would have played in this game even with the most aggressive rest strategy — but things were touch-and-go.
The NFL
I love the expanded playoffs and the importance given to the No. 1 seed.
But there were too many meaningless games around the NFL this weekend.
Remember: There would still be last week drama if there were only 16 games. There might even be more.
Respect to Shanahan and Rams coach Sean McVay for treating Sunday’s game like a preseason game — lots of runs, nothing interesting in the pass game — but that doesn’t make situations like Sunday’s any less brutal, and they’d be less likely in a 17-week — not game — season.
Originally published at Dieter Kurtenbach