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| Other Week 16 Game Recaps | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ARI at NE | ATL at MIN | BAL at DAL | BUF at DEN | CAR at NYG | CIN at CLE | GB at CHI | HOU at OAK |
| IND at JAX | MIA at KC | NO at DET | NYJ at SEA | PHI at WAS | PIT at TEN | SD at TB | SF at STL |
Week 16 Game Recap: San Francisco 49ers 17, St. Louis Rams 16
What you need to know
| San Francisco 49ers |
QB Shaun Hill was nearly benched, and then led his team to two fourth quarter touchdowns en route to victory. Prior to the comeback effort, Hill was all kinds of awful, throwing interceptions and fumbling the ball.
DeShaun Foster did very little toward proving that he can carry the load for the team. The team was behind for much of the game anyway, so the rushing game took a back seat.
Isaac Bruce was fortunate enough to get his 1,000th career reception in the building that he called home for a number of years. Josh Morgan re-emerged late in the game with a long, game winning touchdown.
| St. Louis Rams |
Marc Bulger kept the Rams close, but not in a good sense. He played well enough -- very few mistakes, mostly good decision making in the pocket. He was unable to finish off drives as they got into scoring position, which in hindsight, cost them the game
RB Steven Jackson suffered a minor hamstring injury in the second half, but returned shortly after. He went over yards rushing, but wasn't much of a force in the passing game. He carried the ball a whopping 32 times, since the Rams were ahead for most of the game.
WR's Torry Holt and Donnie Avery were hit and miss. At times each of them looked great, and at others, they simply could not beat their coverage. Keenan Burton had a touchdown reception but was a little out of step with Bulger on another play.
What you ought to know
| QB Shaun Hill, Pass: 18 - 34 - 216 - 2 TD / 3 INT, Rush: 4 - 45 - 0 |
Hill had a pretty rough game, but got the team the win. He battled through three interceptions to rally the Niners to a narrow victory. He was sacked four times and the interceptions were the result of poor decisions under pressure. In the fourth quarter, it appeared that he was nearly replaced, but in the end rewarded the coach's decision to stick with him by putting his mistakes and throwing two TD passes to lead his team to an improbable comeback win. Hill was also the team's leading rusher.
| RB DeShaun Foster, Rush: 12 - 36 - 0, Rec: 2 - 17 - 0 (3 targets) |
Foster took over Gore's role as the main back, but very little with the opportunity. His biggest play was an 11 yard catch and run in the second half. The 49ers were playing from behind for most of the game, so the running game took a back seat.
| RB Michael Robinson, Rush: 1 - 2 - 0 |
Robinson had only a single carry; he was the only back other than Foster to carry the ball.
| RB Frank Gore |
Gore was inactive due to injury (ankle).
| WR Isaac Bruce, Rec: 7 - 61 - 1 (12 targets) |
Bruce had a slow start, and then the ex-Ram gave his St. Louis fans what they came for. After only one catch in the first half, he caught six in the second, including his 1,000th career reception in the final quarter, which was also a touchdown. It seemed that once he figured out how to beat the Rams coverage, he then continued to do so at will.
| WR Bryant Johnson, Rec: 4 - 60 - 0 (7 targets) |
Johnson made his few catches count, as all three were for first downs. Hill didn't look for him much early in the game, but when it counted, he came through.
| WR Jason Hill, Rec: 2 - 6 - 0 (5 targets) |
Hill worked out of the slot primarily, and was targeted mainly on short routes.
| WR Josh Morgan, Rec: 2 - 55 - 1 (2 targets) |
Morgan caught both balls thrown his way, the second for a 48 yard touchdown that proved to be the game winner.
| TE Vernon Davis, Rec: 1 - 17 - 0 (4 targets) |
Davis was targeted early on, but after he fumbled away his only reception, he was only looked to twice the rest of the game.
| PK Joe Nedney 1 - 1 FG, 2 - 2 XP, 5 points |
Nedney opened the scoring with a 48 yard field goal, and kicked two successful PAT attempts.
| SF Rush Defense |
They were able to slow down but not stop Steven Jackson, giving up no big plays, but allowing just enough for the Rams to make a few tough first downs.
| SF Pass Defense |
They pressured Bulger all day; including a big hit on the first play of the game. The game ended on a Tarell Brown interception, just as the Rams were creeping into field goal position in the final minute.
| QB Marc Bulger, Pass: 19 - 36 - 227 - 1 TD / 1 INT, Rush: 1 - 3 - 0, Rec: 1 - 6 - 0 (1 targets) |
Bulger took a lot of punishment and was wildly inconsistent in his play. He had some success finding his wide receivers, but had trouble getting any really long drives going He also had a six yard reception (from Dane Looker).
| RB Steven Jackson, Rush: 32 - 108 - 0, Rec: 2 - 11 - 0 (9 targets) |
Though he had no big plays to speak of, Jackson played a good, steady game, consistently the yards needed for the next first down. He saw a whopping 32 carries. As a receiver he disappointed a bit, given the number of targets. He also lost out on about 30 yards on penalties to his teammates.
| RB Ken Darby, Rush: 5 - 15 - 0, Rec: 5 - 57 - 0 (5 targets) |
Darby turned out to be the Rams leading receiver on the day, and looked impressive in the backfield when spelling Steven Jackson.
| WR Donnie Avery, Rec: 5 - 56 - 0 (10 targets) |
Avery disappeared in the second half (after a team high seven targets in the first half), until the final two minutes when he made two clutch first down grabs. He was clearly a big part of the game plan for the Rams, and likely heir apparent to Isaac Bruce.
| WR Torry Holt, Rec: 4 - 55 - 0 (10 targets) |
Holt was steady, and (continuing his routine this year) put up steady numbers. He and Avery split the load pretty evenly, which seemed to work out for each of them, and kept the Niners secondary guessing a tiny bit.
| WR Keenan Burton, Rush: 1 - 3 - 0, Rec: 1 - 30 - 1 (2 targets) |
Burton's only catch went for a touchdown. The Rams look to be working him into the offense, if a bit slowly.
| WR Dane Looker, Pass: 1 - 1 - 6 - 0 TD / 0 INT |
Looker had no catches on the day, but did throw a six yard reception -- to QB Marc Bulger.
| TE Joe Klopfenstein, Rec: 1 - 6 - 0 (1 targets) |
Klopfenstein caught his pass in the first half, and then was not even targeted after that.
| TE Daniel Fells, Rec: 1 - 12 - 0 (1 targets) |
Fells caught the only ball thrown his way, for long first down.
| PK Josh Brown 3 - 3 FG, 1 - 1 XP, 10 points |
Brown did most of the scoring for the Rams, successfully kicking three field goals (43, 38, 22) and one extra point.
| STL Rush Defense |
The Rams were able to shut down the NIners running game. Part of that was San Francisco running DeShaun Foster instead of Frank Gore but the bottom line is that the Rams held the 49ers running game very much in check.
| STL Pass Defense |
The Rams secondary was formidable, causing three interceptions and a fumble. Yes, you read that right. They looked good.
