There's a long list of plays that can be pointed at as culprits in the San Francisco 49ers' disappointing 27-24 loss to the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday. But following the game, 49ers fans seemed to have their ire focused on one play in particular -- a dropped pass from wide receiver Ronnie Bell that would have put the 49ers in field goal range when the game was tied with just over a minute left.
The play came on a 2nd-and-10 from the 49ers' 43-yard line. Purdy's pass hit Bell right in the hands, but Bell couldn't hang on, committing one of at least six dropped passes by 49ers pass catchers on Sunday.
Bad drop by Ronnie Bell pic.twitter.com/ed7caCLv3m
— Billy M (@BillyM_91) September 22, 2024
Had Bell made the catch, the 49ers would have been in a position to run some clock and have an opportunity to win the game late. But they wound up punting the ball back to the Rams, who after a 38-yard punt return from Xavier Smith and a 25-yard pass interference penalty on 49ers linebacker De'Vondre Campbell were able to seal the game with a 37-yard field goal from kicker Joshua Karty with five seconds remaining.
Bell has had some problems with drops in the past and after Sunday will certainly continue to hear his share of criticism from fans and media. But Purdy came to Bell's defense after the game, saying he could have made the pass easier for Bell to catch.
"He had a double move, and that was the look we wanted and he got his guy," Purdy said following the game. "And by the time I got to him, I think I was just trying to give him a chance and I don't know if I had had enough juice on it just from where I was at in the pocket. So just (trying) to give him a chance and obviously, I think I could still give him a better ball and everything."
Purdy added that he and the rest of the 49ers stand by Bell and that they'll need him again in the future.
"He's a young guy. I love him, man," Purdy said. "And we all got Ronnie's back, so we're going to continue to need him and build him up and we're all in this together, man. It's a team sport, man. So it's not one player, one play here. It's all of them all put together."
With Deebo Samuel out due to a calf injury and first-round pick Ricky Pearsall recovering from a shooting, Bell was one of five receivers on the field for the 49ers on Sunday, joining Brandon Aiyuk, Chris Conley, Jacob Cowing, and Jauan Jennings, who turned in a career performance with 11 catches for 175 yards and three touchdowns. 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan was asked after the loss to comment on Bell's presence on the field at that particular moment in the game.
"There's five (wide receivers) in a game. We're rotating a lot of guys in there, and now he was the guy out there," Shanahan said. "Chris Conley got that earlier in the game, but, you know, those three receivers we have up-- Ronnie's been having a hell of a camp, had a hell of a week of practicing, but he's got to come down with a catch."
Whether or not Bell stays in the picture and continues to get opportunities when Samuel and Pearsall return remains to be seen. But the 49ers aren't piling the same amount of blame on Bell that others are, while being quick to point out there were other moments in the game where they could have done what they needed in order to get the win.
"Yeah, anybody (needs to make that catch)," Shanahan said. "There's other catches in the game that you want people to make and you hope it doesn't have to come down to that. But, you know, Ronnie will say the same thing. He needs to make that catch, but if he doesn't, then you'd like to be able to overcome it and you can overcome it in other ways. But we didn't."
