49ers squeeze the life out of the Rams --PD

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49ers squeeze the life out of the Rams
• By Jim Thomas

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/foot...cle_a99068b1-7015-51b6-adb9-521440814042.html

The Rams came out breathing fire. All things considered it was a fair approximation of the group being honored Monday night at the Edward Jones Dome — the Super Bowl XXIV champion Rams of 1999.

In his fourth NFL start at quarterback, Austin Davis did his best impersonation of Kurt Warner, leading the Rams on an 11-yard, 80-yard touchdown drive off the opening kickoff. The Rams lead grew to 14-0 before the end of the first quarter, but the 49ers slowly but completely squeezed the life out of the Rams.

Gaining momentum with an 80-yard touchdown strike in the closing seconds of the first half, San Francisco scored 24 unanswered points in the second and third quarters. A late Rams field goal made things briefly interesting, but San Francisco recovered an on-side kick and in the final minute tacked on seven points with a "pick six" interception return by Dontae Johnson for a 31-17 victory before a crowd announced as 56,851.

The Rams fell to 1-4, for the worst start in Jeff Fisher's three seasons in St. Louis. San Francisco, after scuffling to a 1-2 start, won their third in a row to improve to 4-2. Things get no easier for the Rams, what with defending Super Bowl champion Seattle coming to town on Sunday.

The big strike on the opening drive was a 39-yard completion over the middle to tight end Jared Cook on third-and-5 from the St. Louis 25.

Offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer pulled a lot of things out of his playbook on the drive, including two carries by Tavon Austin up the middle that produced a first down in 49ers' territory.

Tre Mason — yes, running back Tre Mason — caught a 12-yard pass on the drive that carried to the San Francisco 5. The going was tough from there, with the 49ers' defense yielding yardage grudgingly. Two carries by Zac Stacy produced minus-2 yards. But an illegal contact penalty by San Francisco safety Eric Reid helped out, giving the Rams a fresh set of downs on the 3.

Finally on the fifth play after the Rams reached the 5, Benny Cunningham bounced a run outside left to score a 1-yard touchdown and give the Rams a 7-0 lead 7 minutes into the game.

Later in the first quarter, the 49ers made it into St. Louis territory for the first time on their second possession, when Colin Kaepernick completed a 21-yard pass to backup tight end Vance McDonald. McDonald was moving down field for more yardage when Rams safety Rodney McLeod knocked the ball loose. Linebacker James Laurinaitis recovered the fumble and return it 17 yards to the Rams' 45.

Mason then took his first NFL carry 24 yards, well into San Francisco territory. Two plays later, the Rams faced a third-and-1 from the San Francisco 22. With their jumbo package of extra blockers in the game, Davis got much of the San Francisco defense to bite on a play-fake up the middle to Cunningham.

Davis fired to a wide-open Lance Kendricks for a 22-yard touchdown and a 14-0 Rams lead with 53 seconds left in the first quarter.

At this point, the 49ers were very much on their heels. But they regrouped and finally got three points on the board on a 54-yard field goal by Phil Dawson midway through the second quarter.

But one big play in the final minute of the first half changed everything. Backed up on their 30 with 27 seconds left in the half, the 49ers faced a third-and-6 from their 20. Kaepernick threw deep to former Ram wide receiver Brandon Lloyd. Defender Janoris Jenkins bit on a double move, leaving Lloyd all by himself running down field.

It was an easy throw-and-catch with Lloyd outracing Jenkins to the end zone for an 80-yard touchdown. That made it 14-10 Rams with just 14 seconds left in the first half. And the 49ers were just getting started.

Taking the opening kickoff in the third quarter, the 49ers drove 80 yards for the go-ahead touchdown. They completed three third-down opportunities, and even a successful challenge by Fisher — negating what would have been a 27-yard completion to Frank Gore — couldn't keep San Francisco out of the end zone.

Once again, Jenkins was victimized on the TD pass, an 11-yard pass to Anquan Boldin. Under pressure, Kaepernick rolled to his left to escape pressure and lobbed a pass off his back foot that got over Jenkins and to Boldin for a 17-14 lead with 9:58 left in the third quarter. Jenkins got caught watching Kaepernick and lost track of Boldin.

The Rams were limited to 21 yards in the third quarter; meanwhile, the 49ers rang up 155. The 49ers' lead reached double digits late in the third quarter when Kaepernick connected with Michael Crabtree for 32 yards and a 24-14 lead. Once again, it was a double move; this time, the victim was Missouri rookie E.J. Gaines who was badly beaten.

Here are updates posted during the game by Post-Dispatch football writer Joe Lyons:

Following a strong start _ the Rams were up 14-0 after a quarter _ it was all 49ers as San Francisco scored the next 24 points and cruised to a 31-17 victory over the Rams Monday night at the Edward Jones Dome.

It was the third win in a row for the 49ers, who improved to 4-2 with their seventh consecutive Monday Night Football victory.

The Rams (1-4) will host the defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks noon Sunday at the Dome. Seattle (3-2) is coming off a 30-23 loss to visiting Dallas.

The Rams have lost in each of their last six MNF appearances.

The 49ers appeared in position to add to their lead with about 6 minutes to play, but after two 49ers receivers ran into each other on a first-and-goal play from the 1, the Rams stuffed San Francisco rookie Carlos Hyde on three consecutive runs from inside the 2.

Later in the quarter, the Rams came up with another fourth-down stop at their own 34. From there, the Rams drove to the San Francisco 20 before settling for a 38-yard field goal from Greg Zuerlein to make it 24-17 with 2:24 to play.

The onside kick from punter Johnny Hekker was covered by the 49ers, but the Rams held to force a punt. But on a second-down play from his 15, Austin Davis was picked off by the 49ers' Dontae Johnson, who returned it 20 yards for the touchdown to make it 31-17 with 53 seconds left in the game.

SAN FRANCISCO UP 24-14 AFTER THREE QUARTERS

San Francisco opened and closed the third quarter with impressive scoring drives, taking a 24-14 lead into the fourth quarter.

After closing the first half with some momentum, the 49ers took the second-half kickoff and marched 80 yards on 12 plays to take their first lead of the night at 17-14 on a Colin Kaepernick 11-yard touchdown pass to Anquan Boldin with 9:58 to play in the third quarter.

On the play, Kaepernick was flushed from the pocket and forced to roll to his left. Throwing across his body, he lofted a perfect pass to Boldin, who was running along the back of the end zone.

Late in quarter, the visitors moved 78 yards on seven plays, scoring a 32-yard pass from Kaepernick to Michael Crabtree, who beat Rams rookie E.J. Gaines with a double move on a post route.

SAN FRANCISCO CLOSES HALF DOWN 14-10

After some excellent punt coverage from rookie Lamarcus Joyner and Stedman Bailey put the 49ers at their own 5 late in the first half, San Francisco got out of the hole — and then some — when Colin Kaepernick found former Ram Brandon Lloyd behind Janoris Jenkins and alone down the left sideline for an 80-yard touchdown with 14 seconds left before halftime, allowing the visitors to cut the Rams' halftime lead to 14-10.

Following a 13-yard punt by the Rams' Johnny Hekker, who was under heavy pressure, the 49ers took over at the Rams' 43. But after a 7-yard gain on first down, the drive stalled, forcing San Francisco to settle for a 54-yard Phil Dawson field goal that cut the Rams lead to 14-3 with 7:07 to play before halftime.

Some quick halftime numbers:

• Austin Davis has completed 11 of 14 passes for 137 yards. Jared Cook has two catches for 55 yards while rookie Tre Mason has 27 rushing yards on two carries.

• Kaepernick has completed 11 of 16 for 192 yards. Frank Gore has been held to seven yards on four carries.

RAMS UP 14-0 AFTER A QUARTER

The Rams took the opening kickoff and marched 80 yards on 11 plays, going up 7-0 on a 1-yard run to the right by Benny Cunningham with 7:55 to play in first quarter. The big play of the drive was a 39-yard pass on third down from Austin Davis to tight end Jared Cook on a crossing pattern.

Davis completed all four passes on the drive, including a 12-yarder in the flat to rookie Tre Mason, who lowered his head to run through a pair of 49er defenders to pick up a first down at the San Francisco 5.

Late in the opening quarter, following a big gainer on a pass from Colin Kaepernick to tight end Vance McDonald, the Rams created the game's first turnover as safety knocked the ball loose and middle linebacker James Laurinaitis picked it up and returned it to the St. Louis 45.

Four plays later, on a third-and-one from the 49ers' 22, Davis faked a handoff to Cunningham and lofted a scoring pass to a wide-open Lance Kendricks, giving the Rams a 14-0 lead with 53 seconds to play in the first quarter.

RAMS, 49ERS MEET IN 700th MONDAY NIGHT GAME

With players and coaches from the Greatest Show on Turf on hand to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the Rams' XXXIV Super Bowl championship on hand, the Rams (1-3) take on the San Francisco 49ers (3-2) in Monday Night Football from the Edward Jones Dome.

Coming off five-point wins over Philadelphia and Kansas City, the 49ers have won their last six Monday games, outcoring opponents 164-49 in those games.

Tonight marks the 700th game in the Monday Night Football series, which began in 1970. San Francisco is 45-25 and has the most MNF wins of any franchise.

Meanwhile, the Rams, who will be in their throwback uniforms and field design from the 1999 season, have lost in their last five MNF games.

Tonight marks the Rams' first NFC West game of the season. The 49ers are 0-1 in division play after suffering a 23-14 loss at Arizona on Sept. 21.

The 49ers are 12-1 in October and 18-8 on the road since Jim Harbaugh took over at the start of the 2011 season.

The lone October loss in that span came Oct. 14, 2012, when the visiting New York Giants rolled to a 26-3 win at Candlestick Park. The 49ers scored first on a late first-quarter field goal, but New York responded with 26 unanswered points for the win.

The 49ers swept the Rams a year ago, winning 35-11 at the Dome and 23-13 in St. Louis' final game at Candlestick to take a 64-62-3 edge in the series. San Francisco has gone 13-4-1 in the teams' last 18 meetings.

The Rams and 49ers will meet at new Levi's Stadium on Sunday, Nov. 2.

For the second time in as many weeks, third-year wide receiver Chris Givens, who led the team in receiving as a rookie, is inactive. Other inactives for the Rams are quarterback Case Keenum, cornerbacks Trumaine Johnson (knee) and Brandon McGee (foot), center Barrett Jones (back), running back Chase Reynolds (hip) and defensive tackle Alex Carrington (knee).

Running back Tre Mason, a third-round draft choice in May, is active for the first time while safety and Eureka High product Maurice Alexander makes his home debut. A fourth-round draft pick, Alexander saw his only previous action on the road at Tampa Bay.

For San Francisco, tackle Antony Davis (knee) sits out his second consecutive game. Other inactives for the 49ers are cornerback Tramaine Brock (toe), center Marcus Martin (knee), defensive tackles Quinton Dial and Tank Carradine, safety L.J. McCray and receiver Quinton Patton.

Tight end Vernon Davis, who's already sat out two games this season, is active after being limited all week in practice due to a back injury.