Week 17 Recap – St. Louis Rams vs San Francisco 49ers
ST. LOUIS – On January 1, the 49ers and Rams had their sixteenth regular season game this year. The Rams are coming off a shutout loss away against the Pittsburgh Steelers and the 49ers are coming off a very close win away against the Seattle Seahawks.
49ers DB Chris Culliver, FB Bruce Miller, CB Carlos Rogers and ILB Patrick Willis are active. Here is a list of the 49ers’ inactives: WR Ted Ginn (ankle), G Mike Person, DB Shawntae Spencer, QB Scott Tolzien, TE Delanie Walker, DT Ian Williams and WR Kyle Williams (concussion). Rams QB Sam Bradford (ankle) is inactive and third-string QB Kellen Clemens will get his third straight start because backup QB A.J. Feeley is also inactive due to a broken thumb. Rams CB Josh Gordy, DE Chris Long and RB Jerious Norwood are active. Here is a list of the Rams’ inactives: Bradford, Feeley, Guidugli, OT Kevin Hughes, CB Justin King, TE Mike McNeill and DB Nate Ness.
Pre-game notes: The 49ers are heavily favored today. The Rams activated TE Ben Guidugli from the practice squad and added TE DeMarco Cosby to the practice squad. The 49ers cut WR Braylon Edwards and activated WR Joe Hastings from the practice squad. Missouri head coach, Gary Pinkel, was on the sideline before the start. San Francisco will look to keep their first-round bye hopes alive with a win today at the Edward Jones Dome.
1st quarter:
On 4th-and-4 at the STL 30, 49ers K David Akers unsuccessfully kicked a 48-yard field goal wide right.
On 3rd-and-7 at the SF 18, Clemens scrambled up the right end, which resulted in a touchdown and extra point by K Josh Brown. 49ers 0 Rams 7
On 4th-and-4 at the SF 26, 49ers P Andy Lee punted the ball 66 yards out of bounds at the STL 8.
On 4th-and-13 at the STL 5, Rams P Donnie Jones punted the ball 38 yards and it was returned to the STL 33.
On 3rd-and-goal at the STL 8, 49ers QB Alex Smith scrambled up the right end, which resulted in a touchdown and extra point by Akers. 49ers 7 Rams 7
2nd quarter:
On 3rd-and-3 at the STL 39, Norwood threw a short left pass intended for Clemens and the ball was intercepted by CB Tarell Brown who returned it to the STL 34.
On 2nd-and-4 at the STL 28, Smith passed the ball short right and it was caught by WR Michael Crabtree, which resulted in a touchdown and extra point by Akers. 49ers 14 Rams 7
On 4th-and-22 at the STL 5, Jones punted the ball 55 yards and it was returned to the SF 47.
On 4th-and-16 at the STL 19, Akers successfully kicked a 36-yard field goal. 49ers 17 Rams 7
On 4th-and-18 at the STL 20, Jones punted the ball 56 yards and it was returned to the SF 34.
On 4th-and-5 at the SF 39, Lee punted the ball 61 yards into the end zone for a touchback.
On 4th-and-7 at the STL 23, Jones punted the ball 49 yards and it was returned to the SF 44.
On 4th-and-3 at the STL 24, Akers successfully kicked a 42-yard field goal. 49ers 20 Rams 7
On 4th-and-2 at the STL 43, Jones punted the ball 57 yards into the end zone for a touchback.
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3rd quarter:
On 4th-and-4 at the STL 42, Jones punted the ball 49 yards and it was fair caught at the SF 9.
On 4th-and-16 at the SF 26, Lee punted the ball 50 yards and it was returned to the STL 27.
On 4th-and-18 at the SF 31, Brown successfully kicked a 49-yard field goal. 49ers 20 Rams 10
On 4th-and-7 at the STL 14, Akers passed the ball short left and it was caught by Crabtree, which resulted in a touchdown and extra point by Akers. 49ers 27 Rams 10
4th quarter:
On 4th-and-10 at the SF 30, Brown successfully kicked a 48-yard field goal. 49ers 27 Rams 13
On 4th-and-3 at the SF 35, Lee punted the ball 64 yards and it was downed at the STL 1.
On 1st-and-10 at the STL 1, Clemens threw a deep left pass intended for WR Brandon Lloyd and the ball was intercepted by Brown who returned it to the STL 13.
On 2nd-and-goal at the 1, 49ers RB Anthony Dixon rushed the ball up the right guard, which resulted in a touchdown and extra point by Akers. 49ers 34 Rams 13
On 3rd-and-11 at the SF 36, Clemens passed the ball deep right and it was caught by Lloyd, which resulted in a touchdown and extra point by Brown. 49ers 34 Rams 20
The ensuing onside kick was recovered by Rams LB Brian Kehl at the SF 36.
On 1st-and-goal at the 1, Rams RB Cadillac Williams rushed the ball up the right tackle, which resulted in a touchdown and extra point by Brown. 49ers 34 Rams 27
On 4th-and-15 at the SF 15, Lee punted the ball 43 yards and it was returned to the STL 46.
On 4th-and-17 at the SF 40, Rams QB Tom Brandstater threw an incomplete deep right pass intended for WR Danario Alexander.
On 3rd and-12 at the 50, Smith knelt to the SF 49. End game
Post-game notes: The Rams and 49ers really had no injuries. The Rams lost Clemens on the last drive when he was sacked; Brandstater came in and threw two straight incompletions to Alexander to give the ball back to San Francisco. Bruce Miller (left knee) was taken out of the game in the second quarter. Gore was ineffective in the first half and sat out the second half due to a vague injury or to rest for playoffs. The thirteen wins by the 49ers is their best record since 1997.
Akers had a decent game with his fake field goal touchdown pass to Crabtree, though did miss a rare field goal; he did add on to his record-setting number of field goals with 44 on the season. Lee had a great game by pinning the Rams at their one on one punt and ended up with a 51.4 net average. Tarell Brown had a great game with two interceptions that led to touchdowns. 49ers LB NaVorro Bowman had a great game with eight tackles, one assist and a sack. Rams LB James Laurinaitis had a similar game without the sack. 49ers TE Vernon Davis and Crabtree had great games with Davis going 8 for 118 and Crabtree going 9 for 92 and two touchdowns. Lloyd also had a great game going 6 for 100 and a touchdown. Rams RB Steven Jackson had a decent game going 16 for 76 on the ground.
In a loss that could have gone either way, the Rams got beat by the San Francisco “Rushing TDs Record” 49ers 34-27. The Rams have lost seven straight games; the 49ers have now won three straight. The game got out of hand after the 49ers led by 21 in the fourth quarter. The game became close until the 49ers converted a 3rd and 1 with less than two minutes remaining in the game and the Rams out of timeouts.
The Rams were zero for one on fourth down, though the 49ers were one for one. Both teams had one fumble, but did not lose it. Both teams were excellent in the red zone and goal to go, except for one drive of San Francisco’s, which was the missed field goal. The 49ers killed the Rams on ball control by holding the ball for ten more minutes. The big stat of the game was passing efficiency. San Francisco was 22 for 32 passing the ball and the Rams were 14 for 34 and two interceptions.
The Rams finished 2-14 in the regular season; they tied with the Indianapolis Colts for the worst record in the NFL, but because the Colts’ opponents’ strength of schedule is worse, they will receive the #1 overall pick and the Rams will pick second. This will be the fourth time in five years that the Rams will receive a top-two pick. Earlier today the Rams fired general manager Billy Devaney and head coach Steve Spagnuolo after a 10-38 record the past three seasons.
By Trevor Roe
ProFootball-fans.com St. Louis Rams Correspondent