The 2024 San Francisco 49ers book isn’t officially closed yet, but this is the part of the novel where you might want to find something else to read. The Niners had umpteenth chances to win in Week 15 and missed every one of them.

The blame game started before the end of the game and hasn’t stopped yet. From Deebo Samuel to Brock Purdy to a linebacker we shouldn’t be talking about anymore, there were disappointing performances across the board in the clutch.

But that doesn’t mean there weren’t players who were at a high level. Here’s a look at the winners and losers from Week 15.

winner

Dre Greenlaw

Greenlaw played 46 percent of the snaps before exiting in the third quarter with a tight Achilles. Despite playing less than half the snaps, Greenlaw still ranked second on the team in tackles and third in run stops. The physicality, aggressiveness and overall presence made the 49ers defense look like the dominant version it had been in years past.

Greenlaw was the most influential player on the field.

Fred Warner

After Greenlaw left, Warner took up his cause again. It was a classic performance from Warner, who looked fully healthy. He had 15 tackles, nine run stops and even came under pressure from the quarterback. Warner allowed 19 yards on five targets and had the game-saving play on 3rd-and-2, where he ran about 15 yards to stop Kyren Williams from getting the first down.

The Rams couldn’t do anything offensively in the first half, and the NFL’s best linebacking duo – when healthy – was a big reason why.

Yetur Gross-Matos

Yetur Gross-Matos had a 20 percent pressure rate and led the 49ers in pressures despite playing fewer snaps than any other primary pass rusher. We weren’t able to get a closer look at Gross-Matos this season due to injury, but you can see why the 49ers invested in him based on glimpses of previous games.

Talanoa Hufanga

Hufanga missed two tackles, but to say he had a bad game when he also had five tackles and responded aggressively to blocks in the running game throughout the first half would be ignoring another quality play. With the game on the line, Hufanga also gave up the 14-yarder on third down, but he played the run like a linebacker and was in the right spot in coverage most of the time.

Evan Anderson

Anderson played only 22 snaps but gained a crucial first down and had a quarterback hit that helped end a drive. Anderson also had two run stops in 15 snaps. He is a quality and deep player who has played multiple times every time he has had the opportunity.

loser

De’Vondre Campbell

Leaving your team dry after two players got injured in front of you, and the reason for that was…one of the team’s best players returning from injury will go down as one of the most selfish moves you’ll ever hear of has heard.

Campbell had a two- to three-game stretch where he looked like a good player. However, this didn’t last and he started losing snaps again. It doesn’t seem like this player lives in reality.

Deebo Samuel

If you want to talk, you have to back it up. The 49ers gave Deebo. Samuel had two carries and gained three yards. Samuel had the first goal of the game, but it didn’t stop there. Seven, yes, seven total targets for a player who has given you no reason to believe he will be reliable is outrageous. Samuel caught three of them — one was airmailed by the quarterback — but there were a few drops intended for a first down and a touchdown.

When Samuel catches the wide open slant, he scores, and the 49ers take advantage of the momentum and put pressure on the Rams to score. It was one of the greatest swing plays I can remember, especially considering the stakes.

Anyone with eyes could see the plan to involve Samuel, which not only worked but also wasted plays. A week after posting their best offensive performance in a month without Samuel, the 49ers tried to put a round peg in a square hole, and the results were as expected.

Brock Purdy

The rain objectively affected every offense’s performance in the first half. We’ve seen what rain does to Purdy and he seemed fine in the first half. Purdy was aggressive and made close shots, but the results weren’t to his liking.

In the game, Purdy finished with eight attempts for 20 yards, with the only completion coming to his tight end wide open. Throwing an interception into double coverage all the way to the end of the game was a decision you couldn’t expect your quarterback to make, but Brock had played with fire before.

We were lucky that a throw from his rookie first-rounder wasn’t intercepted before halftime. We see quarterbacks across the league step up their games when under pressure and deliver with a good team around them. We didn’t see that with Purdy against the Rams.

Some cite pressure as a reason, but Purdy was under pressure 11 percent less than Stafford. Still, he had 1.3 fewer yards per attempt, a 31-point worse passer rating, a better-than-expected completion rate of -16.1 percent and a negative EPA per dropback.

Purdy managed just 4.3 yards per attempt 5 of 12 under pressure. It wasn’t like he was much better with a clean pocket. When the Rams weren’t blitzing, Purdy was 12 of 27 with an average of 4.2 yards per attempt. Of course, the numbers are distorted by declines, but more than one may apply in this situation.

The 49ers needed Purdy to get through with a deep shot to Pearsall for a walk-in touchdown. They needed him not to overwhelm the receivers down the field. The only time a submission would have worked, he overthrew it. You can’t expect everything to be perfect around your quarterback when you evaluate him.

I thought Purdy played well in the first half and made good shots. He got worse and worse the more that came at him, and the Niners couldn’t run the ball. That’s a problem.

The hands of the DB

There was a coverage breakdown in the 49ers’ secondary, which ultimately led to the decisive points:

In a critical situation, rely on an experienced safety who was available midseason.

The problem was that Stafford wasn’t throwing you the ball in the first half. To me, this is one of the main reasons the 49ers lost.

Hufanga has one hand, so it’s understandable why he couldn’t catch the ball. But Deommodore Lenoir and Charvarius Ward were hit in the hands by a pass. If Hufanga or Lenoir had caught the pass, the worst-case scenario would have been for the 49ers to get the ball in Rams territory. This basically secures you points. Instead, the 49ers are unable to capitalize, and that’s the difference between a team on the wrong side of .500.

winner

George Kittle

Kittle was targeted seven times and had the long 30-yard throw, including 20 yards after the catch. Kittle should have received a pass interference call that would have put the 49ers in the red zone. But he led the team with 61 yards rushing and was dominant as a blocker. Kittle is a fantastic player regardless of how he is used, and one wonders how the 49ers can play games without him putting up double-digit times.

Nick Sorensen

The best coordinator on the team? Maybe this is a short-term comment, but we’ve seen what Sorensen can do when he has competent players.

The Rams nearly scored 50 points on the Bills in Week 14. They were limited to one explosive play. Stafford was inaccurate and the secondary was all over the Rams’ wideouts. The Rams also didn’t get into the running game until the last possession. Cooper Kupp was nonexistent and Puka Nacua’s box score only looks good because of a coverage bust.

At halftime, the Rams were averaging 2.8 yards per play. They tied the game with 4:15 left on third down and went 0-3 in the red zone. Sorensen got the better of McVay while also controlling the line of scrimmage. Unfortunately, this is not reflected on the scoreboard.