The San Francisco 49ers are faltering in the early part of the season.
After beating Aaron Rodgers and the New York Jets to open up the season, the Niners have dropped consecutive games to the Minnesota Vikings and Los Angeles Rams to find themselves at 1-2. Although both losses were shocking to San Francisco, who is looking to get back to the Super Bowl after falling to the Kansas City Chiefs last year, the Rams managed a comeback that left many in San Franciso scratching their heads.
One of the contributing factors to the Rams’ improbably comeback, which included scoring 13 straight points in the fourth quarter, was a bad drop by wide receiver Ronnie Bell.
Bell got open with the game almost over, and 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy made a pass that would’ve set San Francisco up in field goal range, but Bell wasn’t able to secure the catch, forcing a punt.
After getting the ball back, the Rams marched down the field and knocked the game-winning field goal through the uprights.
It wasn’t Bell’s first drop, but per Pro Football Focus, the team still believes in the wideout.
“He’s a young guy. I love him, man,” Purdy said about his teammate. “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.”
The 49ers had plenty of woes outside of the drop, so there’s some truth in what Purdy had to say, but it won’t change the fact that if Bell doesn’t improve soon he might not be long for the NFL.
Bell and the Niners have another chance to course-correct Sunday against the New England Patriots.
