Before the MVPs, the championships and the fame as a global superstar, one of the most important games of Stephen Curry’s career took place in 2013. Against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden, Curry scored 54 points on 11 of 13 three-pointers – the first of many performances from one of the greatest NBA players of all time.

But Curry’s performance gets a little lost in history. Why? Because Curry’s 54-point game ended in a loss. Despite Curry’s greatness, the Warriors lost to the Knicks 109-105.

Jauan Jennings played the role of Stephen Curry in the 49ers’ loss to the Rams on Sunday. Despite putting up Rice-like statistics, Jennings’ breakout game was not enough as the San Francisco 49ers lost 27-24 to the Los Angeles Rams on a last-second field goal.

It’s hard to review a game, but we have to do it and start with the best moment for the 49ers:

The Jauan Jennings Game

Jennings finished Sunday’s game with 11 catches for 175 yards and three touchdowns. Let’s look at which other players in 49ers history had a game with at least 11 catches for 175 yards and three touchdowns:

• Jerry Rice, Week 6, 1990: 13 receptions, 225 yards, five touchdowns
• Jerry Rice, Week 16, 1995: 14 receptions, 289 yards, three touchdowns
• Jennings on Sunday

On Sunday, Jennings went from being a third-and-jaune figure to a legitimate option in an offense that is loaded with options. Without McCaffrey, Samuel and Kittle, and with Brandon Aiyuk as the presumed No. 1 option in the game, Jennings wasted no time getting involved. San Francisco’s first two drives ended with Jennings reaching the end zone, giving the 49ers an early 14-0 lead.

His third point came midway through the third quarter and gave the 49ers a two-point lead again. Look at how free he was on Sunday, here are some examples from his first two points:

In a game without most of their big-name offensive players, they might have been able to score another goal.

And yet it didn’t matter.

Oh yeah, and Brock Purdy was really good too

Not to mention Jennings’ outstanding performance, Purdy played his best game early in the season.

Purdy threw for 292 yards and three touchdowns on 22 of 30 passing, with plenty left over from drops. There is a perception that Purdy is a product of the weapons around him, but on Sunday, Purdy showed he can make do with his limited opportunities.

After leading the 49ers to a touchdown on the first drive, Purdy hit Jennings for the first chunk play, a gain of 34 over the middle of the field to put the ball in plus territory. After a holding by Trent Williams, Purdy took advantage of the depth a few plays later and found tight end Eric Saubert on the sideline for a gain of 16. Purdy threw his second touchdown of the game several plays later.

Purdy’s only blemish on the game came when Byron Young knocked Colton McKivitz out of the game and forced a strip sack just before halftime that the Rams recovered. The quarterback recovered and threw for 54 yards on the next drive, including a long pass to a completely free Jennings that gave the 49ers a 14-point lead midway through the third quarter. Even as the game got tighter, Purdy stayed consistent and kept the offense moving to set up two field goal attempts that could have given the 49ers a two-point lead.

Yes, there was one play where it looked like Purdy was looking at a completely open Aiyuk downfield, and the drops were bad – we’ll come back to that. The Drop – but overall, Purdy looked like a top-notch quarterback and played the role too, an encouraging sign after last week’s loss.

And yet it didn’t matter.

The drive of the game

Again, it’s not about which drive was the best in terms of numbers, but rather which one impressed me the most. The 11-play, 91-yard drive that resulted in a touchdown early in the second half may have been the best, but it lacked the pizzazz I’m looking for.

But the 49ers’ next drive is something special.

The 13-play, 62-yard field goal drive had a little bit of everything. The drive started with Purdy firing a deep pass to Jennings, who went up and did his best Randy Moss imitation over Quentin Lake for a 32-yard gain. After a Jake Brendel penalty set the drive back, San Francisco faced a third-and-4 where Purdy felt some pressure from the right. He was able to roll to the left before a pump fake got Lake off his feet and the quarterback was able to run for a first down.

Shanahan called Purdy for another third down attempt, where he looked to use a quarterback sneak to get the first down. Purdy dropped the ball, which the Rams recovered, but the review gave the ball back to the 49ers because Purdy was too short of the marker, allowing a fourth down. The 49ers went to the Eagles side of the playbook and called for a tush push to further extend the drive.

After that, the offense stalled, and a 26-yard field goal by Jake Moody put San Francisco up 10 points with 11:57 left. While it wasn’t the most productive drive, it was still eventful and gave the 49ers a lead as time ran out.

And yet it didn’t matter.

A collapse of two minutes and 47 seconds

It started with a 50-meter miss from Moody.

Moody was set up to attempt a 55-yard field goal to put the 49ers up by 10 with 2:47 left in the game. The snap and hold were good, but the kick started left, stayed left and went wide, leaving the door ajar for the Rams.

But missed field goals happen unless there’s a catastrophic mistake right after. But that happened. Stafford found Tutu Atwell on the next play, who raced down the field and scored 50 points, putting the Rams on the brink of tying the score. Two plays later, the Rams ran down the door with a Kyren Williams touchdown run to tie the game with 111 seconds left.

All the 49ers needed was a drive that would put them within field goal range to leave Los Angeles with a win, and in Purdy’s game on Sunday, that wasn’t too much of a challenge. And Purdy made the throw that would have put the 49ers within field goal range, but unfortunately the ball was dropped.

Being missing as many offensive players as the 49ers were on Sunday impacts not only the top of the leaderboard, but also all the other players at the bottom of the leaderboard who move up a spot. So when Purdy uncorked his deep throw on the second attempt to get into field goal range, he wasn’t aiming for George Kittle or Jauan Jennings, but for Ronnie Bell. And with the chance to make a big play that could give the 49ers the win, the moment seemed too big, and Bell dropped the ball at the 27-yard line, and two plays later San Francisco was forced to punt.

The fact is, the 49ers’ special teams mistakes don’t happen one at a time; that would be too easy. They always happen in batches. The Rams’ fake punt conversion earlier in the game and Moody’s miss weren’t nearly enough, so the punt team had to have something to do with the mishap. Mitch Wishnowsky’s 43-yard punt was returned 38 yards by Xavier Smith, setting up the Rams’ offense right in the middle of the field.

Before anyone could even think about the 49ers defense making a stop, Stafford threw a pass to Colby Parkinson, which resulted in 49ers linebacker De’Vondre Campbell being penalized for pass interference and the Rams being in field goal range with less than 30 seconds left. Joshua Karty made the 37-yard field goal and the Rams walked away with the win.

San Francisco took the lead for the first time with 11:12 minutes left in the first quarter and held on to that lead until the end, but was never able to completely pull away from Los Angeles. The Rams took the lead for the first time with two seconds left in the first quarter and that was enough.

And that was ultimately what mattered.