Quick Thoughts On The St. Louis Rams Tie With The San Francisco 49ers

When reflecting back on last nights game, the only word that comes to mind is “purgatory.” Knowing that your team had every chance to win the game, on multiple occasions, believing that you should have won the game, but coming up short. It clearly is not as bad as the game against Miami, when the Rams completely dominated on both sides of the ball and ended up with a loss. It does have the same feeling though, in a sense that even when the offense is firing on all cylinders, mental mistakes cost St. Louis the game. Anyways, here are Ramblin’ Fans quick thoughts on the game.

1. Steven Jackson sure does look like he has lost a step… not! The ageless wonders of Frank Gore and Steven Jackson had a combined 50 carries for 198 yards and 2 touchdowns…

2. Alex Smith needs to practice his slides more often. You have to know that every defensive player on the field wants to knock you out of the game if they get the opportunity to lay a hit on you, especially outside of the pocket. Dunbar’s hit was hard, but legal, and Smith is going to have to learn to take advantage of the “slide” rule if he wants to use his legs for yards.

3. Johnny Hekker is 3 for 3 passing this season for 42 yards, including a touchdown and two fourth down conversions. The man is clutch… However, his passing performances may overshadow the fact that he shanked a punt out of bounds early in the game.

4. The referees in the game made all of the right calls, but they were soooooooo late that is messed up the flow of the game. If you want to throw a flag, just throw it!

5. With that said, the flag for “delay of game” in OT on Zuerlein’s 53 yarder was a bit premature. Typically, it is a judgement call to when the play clock is “exactly” down to zero seconds, but in a moment like that, you have to give the offense the benefit of the doubt. That being said, no one can be upset about the call…

6. The benching of Chris Givens and Janoris Jenkins will likely get underplayed now that the game has ended in a tie. However, there were some ramifications from the decision. Most notably, Givens has been the return man on kickoff for a majority of the season. Being deactivated, Isaiah Pead got the nod in the return game, lost a huge fumble, and allowed the 49ers to take back the momentum and the lead, after a 20 yard Frank Gore touchdown run on the very next play.

7. According to a 49ers insider after the game, Johnny Hekker’s first “fake” punt was not a designed call from the sideline. Fisher and Fossil had given Hekker the option to read the play and make an in-game decision. When the man covering the gunner shifted the inside, he read the play and opted for the pass.

8. When are the Rams going to give Danny Amendola a new contract. Wrapping up Laurinaitis and Long are key on the defensive side of the ball, but Amendola is the key to the offenses success, Period.

9. The 49ers defense looked really shaky coming off the bye week. Clearly the week can off can have significantly different effects on a team.

10. The 49ers and Rams are still “technically” undefeated in the division, which is kind of strange to think about…