Week 13 Recap – St. Louis Rams @ San Francisco 49ers
ST. LOUIS – On December 4, the 49ers and Rams had their twelfth regular season game this year. The Rams are coming off a close loss at home against the Arizona Cardinals and the 49ers are coming off a discouraging loss away against the Baltimore Ravens.
Pre-game notes: The last time these two teams played (end of last season) the Rams managed to win the game and they had the advantage going into Week 17 for the division title; the 49ers are heavily favored today. The Rams cut LB Ben Leber, QB Tom Brandstater was activated from the practice squad, WR David Gilreath and LB Eddie Jones were deleted from the practice squad and Jones and WR John Chiles were added to the practice squad. The 49ers deleted Mark LeGree from the practice squad and added WR John Matthews to the practice squad.
49ers WR Braylon Edwards (knee) is inactive, as well as DB Shawntae Spencer. 49ers HB Frank Gore (ankle) is active and will start. Rams QB Sam Bradford (ankle) is inactive and backup QB A. J. Feeley will get the start. Rams WR Danario Alexander is finally active after missing the last few weeks due to his hamstring injury. Rams DE Chris Long is also active. Here is a list of the Rams’ inactives: DE C. J. Ah You, Bradford, OT Kevin Hughes, LB Josh Hull, T Mark LeVoir, SS Darian Stewart and RB Cadillac Williams. San Francisco will look to clinch the division at Candlestick Park for the first time since 2002 in just a little bit.
1st quarter:
On 4th-and-8 at the SF 39, 49ers P Andy Lee punted the ball 61 yards into the end zone for a touchback.
On 4th-and-6 at the STL 24, Rams P Donnie Jones punted the ball 40 yards out of bounds at the SF 36.
On 4th-and-7 at the STL 18, 49ers K David Akers successfully kicked a 36-yard field goal. Rams 0 49ers 3
On 4th-and-5 at the SF 45, Jones punted the ball 32 yards and it was fair caught at the SF 13.
2nd quarter:
On 4th-and-7 at the SF 49, Lee punted the ball 38 yards and it was fair caught at the STL 13.
On 3rd-and-9 at the STL 14, Feeley was strip sacked and the ball was recovered by LB Aldon Smith who returned it to the STL 6.
On 4th-and-goal at the 1, Akers successfully kicked a 19-yard field goal. Rams 0 49ers 6
On 4th-and-21 at the STL 26, Jones punted the ball 39 yards and it was fair caught at the SF 35.
On 4th-and-goal at the 10, Akers successfully kicked a 28-yard field goal. Rams 0 49ers 9
On 4th-and-18 at the STL 25, Jones punted the ball 32 yards out of bounds at the SF 43.
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3rd quarter:
On 1st-and-10 at the SF 38, Feeley threw a deep right pass intended for WR Austin Pettis and the ball was intercepted by S Dashon Goldson who returned it to the SF 24.
On 1st-and-10 at the SF 48, 49ers QB Alex Smith threw a deep right pass to WR Michael Crabtree, which resulted in a touchdown and extra point by Akers. Rams 0 49ers 16
On 4th-and-8 at the STL 25, Jones punted the ball 45 yards and it was returned to the SF 37.
On 4th-and-9 at the STL 16, Akers successfully kicked a 34-yard field goal. Rams 0 49ers 19
On 4th-and-11 at the STL 19, Jones punted the ball 49 yards and it was returned to the SF 33.
On 4th-and-14 at the SF 47, Lee punted the ball 35 yards and it was fair caught at the STL 18.
4th quarter:
On 4th-and-2 at the STL 26, Jones punted the ball 45 yards and it was returned to the SF 40.
On 3rd-and-6 at the SF 44, 49ers QB Alex Smith threw a short left pass to WR Kyle Williams, which resulted in a touchdown and extra point by Akers. Rams 0 49ers 26
On 4th-and-12 at the SF 42, Feeley was sacked at the SF 49.
On 4th-and-8 at the STL 49, Lee punted the ball 37 yards and it was fair caught at the STL 12.
On 4th-and-5 at the STL 17, Jones punted the ball 35 yards and it was fair caught at the SF 48.
On 4th-and-13 at the SF 45, Lee punted the ball 55 yards into the end zone for a touchback.
On 1st and-10 at the STL 33, Rams HB Jerious Norwood rushed the ball up the middle to the STL 36. End game
Post-game notes: The Rams and 49ers both had a few injuries. Rams G Adam Goldberg was injured, but returned soon after. Rams G Jacob Bell was injured on the first play of the fourth quarter, but did not return. Rams DE Ernie Sims was injured in the third quarter. Feeley broke his thumb sometime during the game, but managed to finish the game. 49ers CB Tarell Brown was also injured in the third. The 49ers did lose ILB Patrick Willis in the first quarter for the whole game.
Long now has at least one sack in six straight games. Rams RB Steven Jackson was held to only 19 on the ground. Rams WR Brandon Lloyd once again had an amazing catch; however, it was his only action of the game. Rams S Craig Dahl and LB James Laurinaitis had huge defensive games with ten tackles and two assists each; Dahl had a forced fumble and Laurinaitis had a sack. Gore made franchise history by rushing for more career yards than any 49er ever did for San Francisco. Alex Smith also had a career day by finishing with a 142.3 QB rating. Akers also set a franchise record by besting Jeff Wilkins’ season-high 30 field goals (Akers now has 32). Rookie Aldon Smith also had a good game with two sacks and a fumble recovery.
In a loss that was well-deserved, the Rams got blanked by the San Francisco “Gold Rush” 49ers 0-26. The Rams have lost four of their last five games; on the contrary, the 49ers have now bounced back from their Thanksgiving night loss. The game was still close at halftime with San Francisco only putting up three field goals. The game got out of hand by the end of the third and the Rams never could make it into the red zone. The last time the 49ers shut out an opponent was two years and two months ago against the Rams at Candlestick.
The Rams had zero rushing first downs. One stat that the Rams did win was the penalties, with the 49ers having three more penalties for double the yardage. The 49ers managed to control the ball for twelve more minutes than the Rams. Both teams were terrible at efficiency, in regards to third downs, and San Francisco’s efficiency in scoring chances was dreadful. The 49ers were zero for four in the red zone and zero for two on goal to go.
The big stats of the game were turnovers, field goals and touchdowns. San Francisco had no turnovers, though did fumble the ball once, and St. Louis had an interception and fumble, which led to ten San Francisco points. The 49ers converted all four field goals and the Rams had no field goal chances. The Rams had no touchdowns and the 49ers had two.
The season is looking even worse for the Rams, now that they are 2-10 in the regular season; they are now eight games behind the San Francisco 49ers. Chances are the Rams will receive yet another #2 overall pick in the 2012 draft.
By Trevor Roe
ProFootball-fans.com St. Louis Rams Correspondent