The St. Louis Rams signalled that they are not a team to be overlooked with their 13-10 upset victory over their NFC West rival San Francisco 49ers on Sunday, November 2. The Rams defense led the way with eight sacks and held the 49ers offense to 263 total yards.
It didn’t look good for the Rams early in the game. Quarterback Austin Davis completed 13 of 24 passes for 105 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. Both of those interceptions came at critical points in the first half, and one of them resulted in a 49ers touchdown.
Fortunately for the Rams, Davis recovered from his errors and led his downfield. He found a wide open Kenny Britt for a 21-yard touchdown to tie the game at 10-10 with 1:04 left in the half.
Meanwhile, the 49ers struggled to find any openings in the St. Louis defense. The normally dependable Frank Gore rushed for only 49 yards on 14 carries. Quarterback Colin Kaepernick spent much of the day running for his life, despite completing 22 of 33 passes for 237 yards and a touchdown.
The St. Louis defense controlled the game thanks to a pass rush that saw six different Rams earn sacks for a combined loss of 54 yards. Rams defensive end Robert Quinn registered two sacks to lead the defense.
Still, the 49ers had a chance to win the game late. Down 13-10, Kaepernick drove the 49ers down to the 1-yard line with 19 seconds left in the game. San Francisco head coach Jim Harbaugh elected to go for the victory on third down instead of kicking the game-tying field goal. Kaepernick fumbled the ball as he pushed into the endzone, and the Rams recovered with two seconds left to seal the game.
San Francisco travels to face the red-hot New Orleans Saints next Sunday, November 9 at 1:00 p.m. PT. The Rams will move on to challenge the first place Arizona Cardinals later that afternoon at 3:25 p.m. ET
