49ers head to St. Louis to face the Rams

The 49ers play the Rams in their penultimate game of the 2008 season, which should be a lopsided affair in their favor. Though losers to the Dolphins last week, the team has played well under the direction of interim head coach Mike Singletary. San Francisco is 3-4 since Singletary took over, but more importantly, it has rediscovered its fire. If there ever was a team the 49ers should blowout, the 2-12 Rams are it. But, at 5-9, the 49ers are far from a dominant squad, which allows for an element of surprise to be present on Sunday.

Running back Frank Gore, who missed the Miami game, didn’t practice on Wednesday and will probably be a game-time decision against the Rams. With Gore out last week, DeShaun Foster received the bulk of the carries, while Michael Robinson collected a few too. With a downsized ground game, the 49ers will turn to quarterback Shaun Hill to repeat the same type of accuracy he exhibited last Sunday in Miami. Hill threw the ball well, but failed to throw a touchdown, which resulted in three field goals instead. More of a game manager than play maker, the quarterback needs his receivers to help him in the red zone and to make a play. Against the porous Ram defense, the likelihood is the 49ers will have opportunities presented to them on a silver platter.

If San Francisco defeats St. Louis this week and Washington the next, they’ll finish with a respectable 7-9 record. After a disastrous start, the firing of head coach Mike Nolan and a change at quarterback, the 49ers have picked themselves up and played decent football. At one point, the team appeared to be completely lost and it seemed as though winning another game the rest of the season would prove to be impossible. But, the emergence of Singletary and Hill at quarterback has settled things down. To finish 2008 with two victories would create a wave of momentum to ride into 2009 on.

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In a bit of other news, former 2005 No. 1 draft pick and starting quarterback Alex Smith, in his first interview in several months, admitted it would be harder to return to San Francisco next season, but didn’t rule out coming back. On the mend from shoulder surgery, Smith is under contract through the 2010 season, but would have to take a cut in pay to appear again in a San Francisco uniform. Understandably, the 49ers can’t pay Smith top dollar if he isn’t in the running to start next season at quarterback. But, Smith, who is still in his early twenties, has a better shot at being the team’s quarterback of the future than either Hill or J.T. O’Sullivan.

So, if Smith is willing to return at a reduced rate, do the 49ers bite? If they do, the Smith saga continues, but probably at a slower pace because the coach who tabbed him with San Francisco’s top pick was shown the door earlier in the season. And if Singletary gets the job, he won’t feed the media’s appetite for Smith drama. It’s an interesting question, but the 49ers could always take the safe route and draft a quarterback next spring and let Smith go.

By Jim Bucci
ProFootball-fans.com San Francisco 49ers Correspondent