Entering Sunday's 2015 regular season finale, a few things were on the line for the San Francisco 49ers and their long-time rivals the St. Louis Rams. A win for the 49ers would mean they would avoid their worst finish since 2005 when the franchise finished with a record of 4-12. As for the Rams who could be playing football in southern California as early as next season while relocating from St. Louis to Los Angeles, a win would make it four straight victories in what's been a disappointing year for Jeff Fisher and company.
After being blown out, 27-6 in the first meeting between bitter foes, the 49ers kept it close and took a 7-3 lead after QB Blaine Gabbert connected with Anquan Boldin who broke free of a tackle and trotted into the end zone on the first play of the second quarter. Getting his second start in as many weeks at running back for the Niners was DuJuan Harris who had himself an all around nice game. Harris broke off a big gain in the second quarter that went for 48-yards and set up the first of Phil Dawson's four field goals on the afternoon. Leading 10-3, the Rams would quickly respond with scores on each of their next three drives. A pair of Greg Zuerlein field goals and a Tre Mason touchdown run from 4-yards out would put St. Louis ahead. Gabbert had a pass batted in the air and intercepted for a 42-yard return which set up the Rams' lone touchdown just two plays later. Trailing 16-10 at halftime, the 49ers would keep the Rams scoreless in the second half.
After inching closer with a field goal in the third, San Francisco tied it up with another in the fourth as the game was sent to overtime with both teams knotted up at 16. With San Francisco failing to score on the opening possession during overtime, St. Louis appeared to be on their way to a fourth consecutive victory as Zuerlein stepped up with a chance to win it with a 48-yard field goal. But after missing wide right from 52-yards earlier in the game, the day would go from bad to worse for Rams kicker Greg Zuerlein who had the potential game-winner blocked by second-year corner Dontae Johnson. The block would keep the Niners alive and give them one final chance to finish the season on top. With under five minutes to go, Gabbert completed a pass to receiver Quinton Patton who broke a tackle and nearly took it to the house before being stopped short of the end zone. The 33-yard reception would be all Phil Dawson needed in what could be his final game as a Niner, as he split the uprights one for the game-winning 23-yard field goal which led to hugs and high-fives all around. Gabbert threw for a career-high 354 yards and a touchdown, with 86 of those yards going to DuJuan Harris who led all receivers. The free-agent-to-be and journeyman who was signed to five different teams this season, rushed for a game-high 67 yards on 16 carries.
Unfortunately, one Niner would walk off the field a winner but would leave the stadium jobless. Despite the 19-16 overtime win, Niners head coach Jim Tomsula was relieved of his head coaching duties just hours after the game. In his only season at the helm, San Francisco finished 5-11 under the rookie head coach who spent a total of nine seasons with the organization, serving as the team's defensive-line coach. With the 49ers head coaching vacancy now the main focus of the offseason, who they nab next is anyone's guess at this point. But that hasn't stopped some of the early candidates from surfacing with such names as Mike Holmgren, Mike Shanahan, Hue Jackson and Adam Gase leading the pack, as well as the recently fired Chip Kelly who on Sunday was bounced from Philly after three seasons. As for some positive news, linebacker NaVorro Bowman added another nine tackles on Sunday to add to his league-leading 154 tackles and was named to the Pro Bowl. It might not be the last we hear of Bowman's name this year, however, as he's a prime candidate to win the NFL's Defensive Player of the Year Award after missing the entire 2014 season following his major knee injury suffered in the NFC title game two seasons ago.
2016 Preview - With the 2015 regular season in the books, the regular season opponents for 2016 have been announced as the 49ers will host the following: Saints, Buccaneers, Patriots, Jets, Cowboys, Cardinals, Rams and Seahawks. Meanwhile, they'll hit the road to face the following: Falcons, Panthers, Bills, Bears, Dolphins, Cardinals, Rams and Seahawks. As for April's Draft, the 49ers sit in the top 10, owning the no. 7 pick.
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On a night Monday Night Football celebrated its 700th game, the (3-2) San Francisco 49ers squared off against the (1-3) St. Louis Rams in a battle of NFC Western division foes. For the visiting 49ers who won both meetings between the two teams last season, it was yet another sloppy performance to begin the game as St. Louis took an early lead on their opening possession with a touchdown scoring drive. And before you knew it, the Rams had jumped out to a 14-0 first quarter advantage following an impressive drive led by St. Louis' Austin Davis who began the season as the team's third string quarterback. After handing the ball off to Benny Cunningham for the 1-yard score, Davis connected 22-yards out with receiver Lance Kendricks for the team's second touchdown in the opening period.
49ers QB Colin Kaepernick appeared to have his team heading in the right direction on their second offensive drive when he made back to back 20+ yard passes, but the second one would be fumbled by second-year tight-end Vance McDonald. The turnover would set up St. Louis' second touchdown several plays later. But from then on, the 49er defense would snap out of whatever funk they began the game with, allowing only 3 points the rest of the way. Niners running back Frank Gore who has made a living off of destroying the Rams throughout his career while logging some of his most memorable performances, was rather quiet in this one. St. Louis, who entered Monday night's match ranked 31st in run defense, logged a solid performance against a San Francisco ground attack which had averaged 145 yards rushing per game this year, holding Gore to just 38-yards on 16 carries and rookie Carlos Hyde to just 14-yards on 11 attempts. Unfortunately for the Rams defense, they would have no answer for Kaepernick and the 49ers' aerial assault.
With less than 30 seconds remaining in the first half, Colin Kaepernick hit receiver Brandon Lloyd who had broke free down the sideline and hauled in an 80-yard touchdown pass to pull his team within four points and steal away the momentum just before halftime. The 80-yard score would be Lloyd's first of the season as well as the longest touchdown of Kaepernick's career at either the college or pro level. It would also be the first 80+ yard TD pass in the last :15 seconds of the first half since the AFL/NFL merger in 1970 for the Niners. With San Francisco now in the driver's seat, beginning the second half with the ball, Kaepernick would complete the comeback by orchestrating a 12-play, 80-yard scoring drive. Having led the league in both passer rating and passing touchdowns while throwing outside of the pocket since 2012 with 21 TD's, Kaepernick added another with a beauty to his most reliable target in Anquan Boldin. But the 49ers QB wouldn't be done there. Two drives later Kaepernick would find Michael Crabtree down the middle for a 32-yard touchdown.
After a St. Louis field goal late in the fourth quarter, the Rams pulled within a touchdown and had plans of tying the game with just over a minute remaining. For the Niners who had let a pair of earlier opportunities go by the wayside when two wide-open tight-ends collided in the end zone and another on a goal-line stand, San Francisco was still seeking its first fourth quarter touchdown of the season. And thanks to rookie defensive back Dontae Johnson's pick-six, they would finally get one. On a pass intended for receiver Kenny Britt, Rams QB Austin Davis would be picked off as Johnson undercut the target and returned the interception 20-yards to seal the win. Kaepernick threw for 343 yards (the second most of his career) and 3 touchdowns while adding another 37 yards on the ground and becoming the first QB in NFL history to win his first four Monday Night Football appearances as the 49ers were able to shake off their first quarter rust. After falling behind 14-0, San Francisco scored 24 unanswered-points in route to a 31-17 win.
Coming into the game, Rams QB Austin Davis was one of only two NFL quarterbacks to throw for over 300 yards and 3+ touchdowns in two of his first 3 starts, the other being Rams great Kurt Warner back in 1999. The 49ers defense prevented that streak from reaching a third game by logging yet another stellar performance in the second half.
Week 7 Preview: With the (4-2) 49ers now riding a 3-game winning streak, they'll be put to the test in Week 7 if they plan to improve that mark as they get set to pay a visit to the Mile High city to face Peyton Manning and the 4-1 Denver Broncos. Chosen by many to potentially meet in the Super Bowl this season, the 49ers will definitely have their hands full as they look to hold off the reigning NFL MVP who's thrown at least 3 touchdowns in 6 of his last 7 games and needs only 3 TD passes to break Brett Favre's record and become the all-time leader. The San Francisco defense figures to make it a difficult task for Manning to accomplish as only three QB's have been able to register a 3 touchdown game versus the 49ers since the start of last season. However, they might be without their leader on defense as linebacker Patrick Willis who sat out of the second half of Monday night's game with a toe injury, is not expected to play on Sunday.
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