49ers news: 3 quick takeaways from the 29-17 loss to the Dolphins

The San Francisco 49ers had their chances. But as they have shown time and time again in 2024, they made one mistake too many and ended up losing 29-17 to the Miami Dolphins on a day they were officially eliminated from the playoffs.

It was a tough game for San Francisco, who were within striking distance until the final stretch of the game but just couldn’t muster enough to get past Miami.

On offense, Brock Purdy spread the ball around and again surpassed 300 yards, but threw an ugly interception late in the fourth quarter that led to the game-winning touchdown for the Dolphins.

Defensively, the 49ers again struggled on the ground, but allowed Miami to continually march downfield, resulting in five field goals for the Dolphins.

Here are three quick takeaways from the 49ers’ 29-17 loss to the Dolphins on Sunday.

The middle 8

One of the biggest opportunities for football teams to take advantage occurs near the end of the first half and the beginning of the second half. And you could say this Sunday was a turning point.

The 49ers, leading 7-6 late in the second quarter, surrendered an eight-play, 68-yard touchdown drive thanks to a 21-yard run by Raheem Mostert and a 19-yard catch by Malik Washington. That gave Miami a 13-7 lead with 3:20 left in the half.

Still, San Francisco had a great chance to retake the lead, getting a 1st-and-goal at the Miami 7-yard line thanks to two catches by George Kittle and Ricky Pearsall.

But the drive stopped there. Deebo Samuel got four yards on the 1st-and-goal to get the 49ers to the three-yard line, but Brock Purdy threw back-to-back incompletions and San Francisco settled for a 21-yard field goal, tying the score at 10 13:10 remained at halftime.

After halftime, the 49ers then allowed Miami to drive 34 yards for a 54-yard field goal by Jason Sanders, extending the lead to 16-10. There came the turning point.

As has been the case most of the season, San Francisco managed to move the ball between the 20 yards and even reached the Miami 20 yard line for a 1st-and-10 in the red zone. But that’s where the setbacks began. An illegal formation put the 49ers back on a 1st & 15. Then, two plays later, when faced with a 3rd & 8, they got another illegal formation.

After an incompletion, Jake Moody missed the 41-yard field goal and so a chance in the red zone resulted in zero points.

Those four possessions were the deciding factor in this game. San Francisco entered the red zone twice and scored just three points due to inefficiencies inside the five-yard line and some costly penalties, while the Dolphins scored 10 points on their two possessions.

Miami scored another field goal on the ensuing drive and maintained the lead for the remainder of the game.

Punish

Penalties have been a major problem for the 49ers in some cases and that trend continued Sunday with 11 accepted penalties for 90 yards.

They started on San Francisco’s second drive, where they had good field position and moved into Miami territory before an Aaron Banks holding penalty caused a 2nd & 5, which was converted into a 2nd & 15. The 49ers couldn’t recover and were forced to punt.

Then of course came the two aforementioned pre-snap penalties on a red zone drive, which not only hurt the 49ers by forcing a field goal, but also resulted in a zero-point possession due to Jake Moody’s miss.

On Miami’s final field goal, the 49ers opened the drive with consecutive defensive penalties when an unnecessary roughness by Deommodore Lenoir and an offside call by Kalia Davis brought Miami to the San Francisco 44-yard line with a 1st & 5. Miami got the first down before settling for a 48-yard field goal to extend their lead to 22-17.

When there are as many penalties as the 49ers did on Sunday, it’s hard to overcome considering how many serve as drive killers or extenders for the opposing team. These self-inflicted wounds were a major problem in the loss.

Final fights

The 49ers were unable to finish games in 2024. For some reason, they struggled mightily in the fourth quarter, even in some wins, and that continued into Sunday.

San Francisco had a number of opportunities in this game, even if the final score didn’t reflect that. After cutting the lead to 19-17 with 12:02 left in the fourth quarter, the defense forced a punt, giving the offense its best opportunity to take the lead.

After a quick first down, the 49ers went three-and-out when a run by Deebo Samuel went just one yard, leading to a second-and-3-and-long situation and ultimately a punt.

Miami scored a field goal on their ensuing possession, but San Francisco still had a great chance with 2:14 left and was only five points behind. However, that was quickly dashed on the second play of the drive when Brock Purdy threw an ugly interception while being hit by a pass rusher.

During the play, center Jake Brendel missed his block, which led to a lot of pressure in the middle. Still, Purdy couldn’t spot the lower defender and forced the ball far too narrow into a window, resulting in a game-winning interception.

Despite some struggles, San Francisco has had plenty of opportunities to win games this season. But they really missed some opportunities in the fourth quarter, and that trend continued on Sunday with a big interception.

Even after that, the 49ers had three timeouts to possibly get the ball back, but the Dolphins got a first down before De’Von Achane scored the game-winning 50-yard touchdown, sealing the deal for Miami.

This season is now officially over for the 49ers, as they face the Detroit Lions at home next weekend before finishing their season at the Arizona Cardinals. But against the Miami Dolphins, a lot of things looked the same, which led to the disappointing result that 49ers fans have come to expect too often this season.