- Joined
- Jul 31, 2010
- Messages
- 8,874
A look ahead at Rams vs. 49ers
• By Joe Lyons
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/foot...cle_9d4882f8-e672-5cce-ab54-c2145d6094d6.html
COMING THIS WEEK
When they square off with San Francisco in a noon game Sunday at the Edward Jones Dome, the Rams will be looking for their first back-to-back wins at home since knocking off New Orleans and Tampa Bay late in 2013. The 49ers, who were hit hard by retirements and other offseason departures, are coming off a 20-3 home loss to Seattle on Thursday that dropped their season record to 2-5 under first-year coach Jim Tomsula.
PLAYER TO WATCH
Quarterback Colin Kaepernick. Once regarded as one of the NFL’s up-and-coming stars, the fifth-year pro from the University of Nevada is quickly becoming the focus of the 49ers’ troubles this season. Through seven games, he’s completing just 61.4 percent of his passes with six touchdowns and five interceptions. The team’s struggles are hardly all his fault — with 25 sacks, he’s on pace to be the most sacked QB in 49ers history — but he’s the face of the franchise and right now, the Niners simply aren’t very good.
In the loss to Seattle, Kaepernick, who had thrown for 340 yards the week before in a win over Baltimore, completed just 13 of 24 passes for 124 yards, was sacked six times and completed just four passes to wide receivers as the San Francisco offense had more punts (nine) than first downs (eight). And for the first time in his career as a starter, Kaepernick had zero rushing attempts.
HE SAID IT
“That game is not anything that any of us are proud of,” Tomsula said a day after the 20-3 drubbing at the hands of the Seahawks. “That’s not how we want to represent ourselves. We have to do something to get better. That’s unacceptable. That’s not what we’re going to do, who we are or what we’re about. So we’re going to fix it.
“We do have a couple extra days here that we will take full advantage of the opportunity to go through this coaching-wise and assess, identify and correct.”
INJURIES
Fisher said that Rams had “bumps and bruises’’ but came out of the Cleveland game relatively healthy. Defensive end Chris Long (knee) is not expected back this week, but there’s a good chance tight end Lance Kendricks (finger) will return to action.
The 49ers lost Pro Bowl safety and captain Antoine Bethea for the season with an apparent pectoral injury late in the first half of the Seattle game. Running back Carlos Hyde has been playing through a lingering foot injury suffered Oct. 11. In addition, starting center Daniel Kilgore remains on the physically unable to perform list as he recovers from a broken leg.
SERIES HISTORY
The 49ers enter with a 65-63-3 edge in the series. Their three-game winning streak was halted last November when the Rams held on for a 13-10 win at Levi’s Stadium. With the score tied at 10, the Rams took advantage of a shanked punt to take the lead on a 39-yard field goal.
• By Joe Lyons
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/foot...cle_9d4882f8-e672-5cce-ab54-c2145d6094d6.html
COMING THIS WEEK
When they square off with San Francisco in a noon game Sunday at the Edward Jones Dome, the Rams will be looking for their first back-to-back wins at home since knocking off New Orleans and Tampa Bay late in 2013. The 49ers, who were hit hard by retirements and other offseason departures, are coming off a 20-3 home loss to Seattle on Thursday that dropped their season record to 2-5 under first-year coach Jim Tomsula.
PLAYER TO WATCH
Quarterback Colin Kaepernick. Once regarded as one of the NFL’s up-and-coming stars, the fifth-year pro from the University of Nevada is quickly becoming the focus of the 49ers’ troubles this season. Through seven games, he’s completing just 61.4 percent of his passes with six touchdowns and five interceptions. The team’s struggles are hardly all his fault — with 25 sacks, he’s on pace to be the most sacked QB in 49ers history — but he’s the face of the franchise and right now, the Niners simply aren’t very good.
In the loss to Seattle, Kaepernick, who had thrown for 340 yards the week before in a win over Baltimore, completed just 13 of 24 passes for 124 yards, was sacked six times and completed just four passes to wide receivers as the San Francisco offense had more punts (nine) than first downs (eight). And for the first time in his career as a starter, Kaepernick had zero rushing attempts.
HE SAID IT
“That game is not anything that any of us are proud of,” Tomsula said a day after the 20-3 drubbing at the hands of the Seahawks. “That’s not how we want to represent ourselves. We have to do something to get better. That’s unacceptable. That’s not what we’re going to do, who we are or what we’re about. So we’re going to fix it.
“We do have a couple extra days here that we will take full advantage of the opportunity to go through this coaching-wise and assess, identify and correct.”
INJURIES
Fisher said that Rams had “bumps and bruises’’ but came out of the Cleveland game relatively healthy. Defensive end Chris Long (knee) is not expected back this week, but there’s a good chance tight end Lance Kendricks (finger) will return to action.
The 49ers lost Pro Bowl safety and captain Antoine Bethea for the season with an apparent pectoral injury late in the first half of the Seattle game. Running back Carlos Hyde has been playing through a lingering foot injury suffered Oct. 11. In addition, starting center Daniel Kilgore remains on the physically unable to perform list as he recovers from a broken leg.
SERIES HISTORY
The 49ers enter with a 65-63-3 edge in the series. Their three-game winning streak was halted last November when the Rams held on for a 13-10 win at Levi’s Stadium. With the score tied at 10, the Rams took advantage of a shanked punt to take the lead on a 39-yard field goal.
