LOS ANGELES — One of the 49ers’ most miserable seasons reached its merciful end Sunday with a 48-32 loss to the playoff-bound Los Angeles Rams.
The glorious upside: they clinched the No. 2 overall draft pick, by virtue of their 4-12 record and strength-of-schedule tiebreaker.
Some true glory, however, was achieved by George Kittle, who set a NFL record for most receiving yards in a season by a tight end, doing so in style when his 43-yard touchdown catch with 2:20 remaining pushed his total to 1,377 yards.
The otherwise bland finale offered more than enough turnovers and injuries to tee up a wire-to-wire loss.