The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: 5 Takeaways from NFC Championship

The San Francisco 49ers ran out of gas in most favorable conditions in Inglewood, California.

The San Francisco 49ers tragically fell to earth from their nerve-wracking walk on the wire on Sunday evening at SoFi stadium. Here are the five takeaways from the 20-17 loss to the Los Angeles Rams.

Another choke

During the divisional round, Aaron Rodgers choked on prime time. This week, the 49ers surrendered a 10 point lead in the 4th quarter. Kyle Shanahan's side blew the 10 point cushion in Super Bowl 54 and lost similarly. 

Shanahan tried his best not to lose the game. Shanahan tried to use Trent Williams in motion during a critical drive in the second half to convert a 3rd down, as Deebo Samuel watched from the sidelines.

Unfortunately, his quarterback did not help. The 49ers wasted the season of Deebo Samuel, who had an outstanding season to raise the trade value of a mediocre quarterback.

No run, no fun

The Rams hosted the 49ers with their reputation on the line. The SoFi stadium was under threat of overtaking by the visiting crowd. The 49ers expected to steamroll over the Rams with their ground game.

None of that happened. The rams took out the 49er run game by stacking defenders close to the line of scrimmage, forcing Jimmy Garoppolo to throw.

The 49ers tried everything in their arsenal to continue the winning formula. The total rushing yards were limited to 50. With the 49er offense struggling to move the ball without the run game, the Rams had possession for 36 minutes and wore down the 49ers defense. The Rams lost a couple of scoring opportunities which kept the game close.

Garoppolo wins until he doesn't

The 49ers kept chanting the mantra "Jimmy Wins." Garoppolo did win games when the defense held its own and Kyle Shanahan kept the ball away from Garoppolo this season. When the Rams pushed the 49ers' backs to the wall, Garoppolo crumbled as usual. Garoppolo completed only 3 of 9 pass attempts for 30 yards with an interception to end the game in the 4th quarter. His quarterback rating was 4.2.

Garoppolo also missed a wide-open Goerge Kittle after the defense forced the Rams to punt on the first drive of the game.

The Rams mortgaged their future for Matthew Stafford, who delivered under pressure, while the 49ers kept Trey Lance on the bench to witness another Garoppolo meltdown.

The Rams got the last laugh.

The Rams were on a six-game losing streak to the 49ers before the championship game. Many 49er fans were confident that the 7th win for their team would come until it all fell apart. The regular season streak against a divisional rival is meaningless. The Seattle Seahawks are 15-4 against the 49ers. The Arizona Cardinals swept the 49ers during the regular season. In the past two years, Tampa Bay did not record a single regular-season win against their divisional rivals, the Saints.

The Rams were determined to take the game deep, and Mathew Stafford connected with his offensive targets to take the game away.

The defense stayed solid

The Rams converted 66 percent of their third down plays. Yet, the 49ers defense held Rams to just 7 points until the 4th quarter. The 49ers did not believe in spending high draft picks on cornerback during the off-season, and Ambry Thomas looked lost during multiple plays.

Cooper Kupp burned Thomas, who could not step up with the star wide receiver.

In contrast, the 49ers converted only 33 percent of their 3rd downs, which people believed was a strong point of Garoppolo. The offense left the defensive unit to run out of gas, and Stafford pounced gleefully to end the 49ers' run as a wild card team.