St. Louis Rams defense stepping up as they lead 16-10 in Santa Clara
By Alex Alarcon
Can someone tell Todd Gurley to get his uniform on and play the second half? The Rams need some offense. It’s halftime here for the St. Louis Rams and San Francisco 49ers, as the Rams lead 16-10 in Santa Clara. St.Louis has scored 13 unanswered points to end the half. The Rams got off to a good start in this one, as they once again started with the long ball. Quarterback Case Keenum connected with wide receiver Kenny Britt on a 54 yard pass play. The play was designed with a fake hand-off to running back Tre Mason, then another fake to Tavon Austin on the sweep as Britt was running down the field.
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However, this St. Louis offense has yet to get things going, as they only finished with three points on that drive. Greg Zuerlein connected on a 33 yard field goal and gave the Rams a 3-0 lead. With the 49ers offense watching from the sideline, they knew they had to answer or else this St. Louis team will keep pounding away. They did exactly that, two offensive drives later.
San Fran put together a seven play 70 yard touchdown drive which ended in receiver Anquan Boldin walking into the end zone with a 33 yard touchdown catch. With the Rams offense still not putting yards together, they always have to get a play from their bag of tricks. On a 4th and 4, high school quarterback and now Rams punter Johnny Hekker sent a long ball to Bradley Marquez but was unable to hold onto the catch.
Nothing was going right for the Rams offense in the 1st quarter. With the 49ers gaining all the momentum, they once again went to the red-zone but this time around, the Rams were able to hold them for 3 points. Phil Dawson connected on a 26 yard field goal as San Fran now had a 10-3 lead over their rivals.
The Rams needed to get something going, but thankfully the defense stepped up and gave the offense a late Christmas present. With the score now 10-6, 49er quarterback Blaine Gabbert would drop back and send a pass right into the hands of defensive lineman Eugene Sims. Sims would run all the way down to the 49er three yard line as he was finally brought down before getting six points.
With the Rams needing only three yards, they gave it to new starting back Mason as he rushed in for a three yard touchdown play. The 49ers had all of the momentum, yet in a matter of seconds, the Rams had control of this football game.
San Fran now led the offense back on with the sound of “boo’s” ringing in the stadium. More of those “boo’s” would come as they would punt the ball away with giving the Rams once last chance on offense before the half.
Backup running back Benny Cunningham got the spotlight to end the half, as he exploded for a 26 yard run play, that gave the Rams field goal position to end the half. “Greg the leg” would connect on a 44 yard field goal, and gave the Rams a 16-10 halftime lead. St. Louis has turned this game around and have full momentum. Will the Rams get their fourth straight victory? Let’s hope so.