Before Troy Smith could come to the rescue Sunday, the defense had to save the 49ers.
Again. And again. And again. And again.
On four straight fourth-quarter drives, the Rams had the ball and a 17-10 or 17-13 lead, needing a touchdown to likely put both the game– and the Niners’ season — away.
But St. Louis didn’t get a touchdown. Actually, it didn’t get a first down.
Instead, the Rams went three-and-out on four consecutive drives to set the stage for the 49ers’ offensive heroics.
A look inside the four defensive series:
•
Before there was third-and-32 or fourth-and-18, there was another
less-than-ideal situation. Leading 17-10, the Rams took over at San
Francisco 36-yard line with 38 seconds left in the third quarter after
Bryan Kehl partially blocked Andy Lee’s punt.
St. Louis needed
several yards to attempt a field goal. Instead, it got two. After Steven
Jackson’s two-yard run on first down and two straight incompletions,
Josh Brown came out to attempt a 51-yard field goal, but the Rams called
a pooch punt.
Bullet dodged.
• Jackson had four carries
for two yards on the four three-and-outs, and 16 carries for 79 yards the rest of the game. Sam Bradford was 4 of 8 for 20 yards on the four
drives — he was 26 of 34 for 231 yards on St. Louis’ other nine drives.
The Rams had 22 yards, and averaged 1.8 yards per play, on the four drives.
•
Troy Smith eventually was quite clutch. But prior to the final drive in
regulation, he was the leader of a penalty plagued offense that was
0-for-11 on third-down conversions and had produced 13 points in the
game’s first 57 minutes. The defense kept getting the ball back in the
fourth quarter, but the offense couldn’t much with it.
Prior to
his fourth-and-18 magic, Smith completed 4 of 9 passes for 53 yards —
and led the offense to a field goal — on three preceding drives.
•
A few key plays:
1. On third-and-10 at the Rams 28 with about 12
minutes left, Bradford completed a pass to Brandon Gibson near the
first-down sticks. It would have been a first down if Gibson, making
his 11th career start, hadn’t inexplicably backpedaled in a curious
attempt to get extra yardage. Next play: Punt.
2. On second-and-4 at the
St. Louis 26 with about nine minutes left, linebacker Parys Haralson
dumped Jackson a for a two-yard loss. Next play: Incompletion. Next
play: Punt.
3. On third-and-1 at the St. Louis 28 with about five
minutes left, Ray McDonald knifed through the backfield and buried
Jackson for a one-yard loss. Next play: Punt.
Six plays later,
Smith threw a 16-yard, go-ahead touchdown to Michael Crabtree, a moment
made possible by his playmaking ability and — oh, yeah — some serious
defense.
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