San Francisco 49ers, 31 – St. Louis Rams, 17 Monday Night week 6
Away at St. Louis it was only good form to allow the home team to score the first touchdown. Benjamin Cunningham’s 1-yard dash to the end zone plus Greg Zuerlein’s extra point put us in the hole, 7-0. A muddle of lack-luster drives followed, but then Rams QB Austin Davis found Lance Kendricks on a 22-yard pass to push the lead to 14 with 1:00 remaining in the first quarter. Courtesy had now become a disturbing trend.
We picture Phil Dawson as the guy on the crank at the front of the car. His 54-yard field goal at 7:12 in the second quarter got the offense in the mood for a comeback. Following an ineffective Rams series and punt, San Francisco did the unexpected. With just 1:50 left, Kaepernick and company advanced the offense with short passes to the SF20 before airing one out to receiver Brandon Lloyd for an 80-yard touchdown score. With 0:27 remaining, notice was given that the game was ON. Score: 14-10 Rams at halftime.
The first possession in the third quarter continued a previous week’s trend of passes, runs and scrambles capped by an 11-yard pass to Anquan Boldin for the Niner’s second touchdown…ahead at last, 17-14. Once the rhythm was established, it seemed only natural to repeat in the closing seconds with a 32-yard pass to Michael Crabtree for another touchdown, score 24-14.
Mid-way through the fourth quarter it looked like the Niners were going to score again, but St. Louis’ defense made a superb goal line stand to force the turnover on downs. The Ram’s best last effort to get back in the game ended when a 10 play, 46-yard drive stalled at the SF 20 and they were forced to accept a field goal to make it 24-17.
Then, as had been the case in the previous week, it was a player on the defense who would put the game away. Chief’s QB Austin Davis’s pass intended for Kenny Britt was picked off by Niner defensive back Dontae Johnson at the St. Louis 20 and carried to the goal line. Cue the angelic chorus. Final score 31-17.
With 343 yards passing on the day, zero interceptions and zero sacks, we were pleased to see the return of a confident Colin Kaepernick. We hope that experiencing the rhythm this week will make finding the rhythm easier in the weeks to come.