SANTA CLARA, Calif. – The San Francisco 49ers got just a few moments to enjoy their biggest special teams game of the season before disaster struck again Sunday afternoon.

This time it wasn’t a one-off, like the Rams successfully faking a punt, the Vikings blocking a punt or a fumbled kickoff against the Patriots. Instead, it was kicker Jake Moody who suffered a high right ankle sprain while trying to make a tackle on a kick return.

The fallout from that play had a more lasting impact than the abuses that plagued the Niners in recent weeks, when San Francisco was forced to play the final 34 minutes and 59 seconds of the game without a kicker in a game in which it squandered a 13-point lead . and lost 24-23 to the Cardinals. It was the 49ers’ second loss after blowing a double-digit fourth-quarter lead this season, with the other coming in Week 3 against the Rams.

Before this season, the Niners were 51-2 under coach Kyle Shanahan when they led by double digits in the fourth quarter. With Sunday’s loss, the 49ers dropped to 2-3 on the season, 0-2 in the NFC West and 0-3 against NFC opponents and now must travel to play the division-leading Seahawks on short rest Thursday night in Seattle.

“Losing your kicker is huge,” tight end George Kittle said. “That’s tough. Jake is a great kicker and you don’t have that option.”

That option could have come in handy several times in a second half in which the 49ers failed to score. It was only the 10th time they haven’t scored in either half of a regular-season game since Shanahan took over in 2017.

Moody suffered the injury with just under five minutes left in the second quarter. After 49ers defensive tackle Jordan Elliott blocked a field goal attempt and cornerback Deommodore Lenoir returned it 61 yards for a touchdown, Moody attempted to hit the ensuing kickoff for a touchback, as he had done on all but four of his previous 27 kickoffs this season.

Moody kicked into the wind and said he got under the ball a bit, giving Cardinals returner DeeJay Dallas a return opportunity. Dallas pushed his way past the first line of Niners defenders and met Moody on the left side of the field. As Moody attempted to make the tackle, he was knocked backward as his body folded over his right (kicking) leg.

Moody immediately slammed his helmet shut in frustration, realizing the play had played out the same way he said he broke his leg trying to make a tackle in eighth grade. The initial diagnosis is a high ankle sprain, which is better than a fracture, although Moody must undergo most of the tests before a recovery timeline can be determined.

“Luckily I didn’t feel anything break or crack or anything like when I broke it,” Moody said. “That was good. But I immediately knew something was wrong. It’s just a shame.”

A cart brought Moody to the locker room shortly after the injury, with punter Mitch Wishnowsky moving to the kick and fullback Kyle Juszczyk as the holder.

Wishnowsky made his only field goal attempt, a 26-yarder that put San Francisco up 23-10 just before halftime, but Moody’s absence put even more pressure on an offense that had already relied too heavily on the kicker in the first month of the season.

On a day when the 49ers scored just one touchdown on six drives inside Arizona’s 10, their first red zone trip after Moody’s injury ended at Arizona’s 27 after quarterback Brock Purdy was sacked for a loss of 9 yards and the Niners opted to go for it to go. fourth-and-23 instead of Wishnowsky attempting a 45-yard field goal.

It also changed the way the Niners viewed their final drive of the game. Trailing by one with 1:32 to go and the ball at 27, San Francisco would normally feel comfortable with Moody attempting a game-winning field goal from about 57 yards out.

With Wishnowsky as kicker, the Niners aimed to reach at least Arizona’s 15 so the potential game-winner would be comparable to an extra point.

While the lack of a kicker undoubtedly changed the Niners’ end-of-game approach, it also wasn’t the biggest reason for the loss. The aforementioned red zone issues plus three turnovers on offense combined with sloppy late-game tackling on defense were the main culprits.

The 49ers led the NFL in red zone efficiency in 2023, scoring touchdowns on 67.2% of their drives inside the 20. Entering Sunday night’s game, the Niners were 30th in the NFL in red zone efficiency and scored touchdowns on 40.9% of their drives inside the opponent’s 20. Additionally, they have scored touchdowns in just six of 12 goal situations, a 50% mark that ranks 31st in the league and well below the 82.9% they achieved last season.

It could be the area where running back Christian McCaffrey’s absence due to lingering Achilles tendinitis is felt most. He tied for the lead in touchdowns from scrimmage last year (21) and has not played in any of San Francisco’s five games this season.

“Everything is pretty tight,” Purdy said. “I just have to be better and more aggressive out there and as a unit, once we get there, we all have to, the mentality that the guy has to have, we have to push this through. Obviously, I know we can settle for a field goal, but we have to hold ourselves to a higher standard and cross the goal line.”

It’s a problem, along with many others, that the Niners know they need to solve in short order. They return to practice on Tuesday before traveling to Seattle. On Monday, San Francisco will bring in kickers for a closer look, one of which will need to be added to replace Moody at least in the coming weeks, Shanahan said.

In other words, there’s no time for the defending NFC champions to lick their wounds and wonder why this season has gotten off to such a disappointing start.

“We would love to sit here and get angry and we would love to be able to do something about what just happened, but we can’t,” Shanahan said. “You can’t do anything about these games once they’re over. I tell the guys the next time we can do something is Thursday, and it’s better to just wait until Thursday than until next Sunday. “