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49ers top St. Louis in season finale
By Morris Phillips January 3, 2010 |
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In what was likely his last NFL game, prolific receiver Isaac Bruce made a ceremonial start, lining up for just the first play, and then leaving the game as the St. Louis crowd gave him a healthy round of cheers. Bruce then loosened his jersey, and removed his tape, and watched the rest of the half from the sidelines, before putting on his street clothes at half time. It only seemed like the rest of the 49ers’ offense made the same ceremonial appearance. The difference being that halftime served as a wakeup call as the 49ers rebounded from a season-low 52 yards of offense to that point. From there, the offense responded with four second half touchdowns in a 28-6 win over the Rams that secured an 8-8 finish to the season, the first non-losing season for San Francisco since 2002. “It ended up being one of those games where you have to look at the character of your team one more time, the last game of the year, and say, “Okay, what are we going to do here? Are we going to come out in the second half … are we going to fight, or stumble over ourselves?” Coach Mike Singletary recounted. While the 49ers’ offense stumbled, the defense piled up eight sacks, which made for a painful and unproductive afternoon for Rams’ rookie quarterback Keith Null. Null finished just 7 for 17 and 57 yards passing before leaving with concussion-like symptoms in the third quarter. Justin Smith alone compiled 3 ½ sacks as the high-energy pass rusher was often matched against rookie Roger Allen, making his first NFL start. The loss left the Rams with an NFL-worst 1-15 record ensuring that they will pick first in next year’s draft. The 49ers trailed 3-0 when they finally made strides with Moran Norris’ first touchdown of the season, capping an eight-play drive highlighted by a pair of big gainers from Frank Gore. Gore finished with 107 yards rushing and two late touchdowns that put the game away. But before Gore’s pair of touchdowns in the final minutes, and in the midst of 20 punts that littered the afternoons proceedings, the 49ers made a couple of pivotal plays to ensure the season didn’t have a horrific ending. Still trailing just 7-3 into the fourth quarter, the Rams got a 56-yard punt return from Danny Amendola that set St. Louis up deep in 49ers’ territory. But on 3 and 1 from the 49ers 10-yard line, linebacker Takeo Spikes blew up Rams’ linebacker Mike Karney allowing Parys Haralson to tackle Steven Jackson for a loss. The Rams had to settle for a field goal, and the 49ers retained the lead, 7-6. Three plays later, Alex Smith found Vernon Davis streaking down the sideline for a 73-yard catch and run that put the 49ers up 14-6 with less than eight minutes remaining. Three more sacks by Smith, Dre’ Bly and Dashon Goldson of backup Kyle Boller kept the Rams at bay, while the 49ers added Gore’s touchdowns on their ensuing two possessions to wrap it up. Smith finished 17 for 28 and 222 yards and no interceptions. The fifth-year quarterback led the 49ers to a 5-5 record after replacing Shaun Hill midway through the seventh-game of the season at Houston. Davis tied an NFL-record for touchdown catches in a season by a tight end with 13, a record that was established a few years back by San Diego’s Antonio Gates. Davis will make his first appearance in the Pro Bowl as a starter. Bruce concluded his 16th NFL season with 1,024 catches, 15,028 yards and 91 touchdowns. Bruce had a couple of Super Bowl appearances with the Rams before joining the 49ers for the last two seasons. |
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