The Rams defense forced two straight incompletions, then tackled 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy short. San Francisco (1-2) had no choice but to punt, but could not expect practice squad call up Xavier Smith to return the kick to midfield. Without a timeout, the Rams were already within striking distance of field goal range.

The 49ers attempted a seven-lateral desperation play in the final seconds and reached Rams territory before Jake Brendel’s toss to Brandon Aiyuk bounded out of bounds to end one of the 49ers’ most frustrating losses in years. It was also their first regular-season defeat at SoFi Stadium in five years.

It couldn’t have gone much worse for the San Francisco 49ers at SoFi Stadium on Sunday. They fell to the Los Angeles Rams 27-24 after leading by 10 points with half a quarter to go. Here are