Rams’ defense fails to convert against 49ers in final minutes
As Rams nose tackle Michael Brockers lined up for the decisive two-point conversion in the waning moments of a crushing 22-21 loss to the San Francisco 49ers, he could sense the play that was about to unfold.
“They were on the right hash, and you could read bootleg all the way,” Brockers said, and sure enough, 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, his team down by a point and going for its first win since a 28-0 shutout of the Rams in the Sept. 12 season opener, took the snap out of a shotgun formation and rolled right.
“We had good pursuit,” Brockers continued. “I just wanted to take a good angle, because I knew he was faster, and at that point .. . I was really looking for the cavalry to come help me.”
This has been the running theme throughout a brutal season in which the Rams defense has often played good enough to win, only to receive little or no support from the NFL’s worst offense.
And on some afternoons, like Saturday in the Coliseum, the Rams’ defense, good as it is, simply can’t help itself.
The cavalry was a no-show. As Brockers tried to string out the play and flush the versatile Kaepernick toward the right sideline, defensive back Blake Countess closed in, but too late.
Kaepernick sliced his way through Brockers and Countess and dived into the end zone for the winning two-point conversion with 31 seconds left to complete San Francisco’s comeback from a 14-point deficit in the final 5:06.
“When you get an athlete out in space like that against a 310-pound defensive tackle, usually that matchup, nine times out of 10, [Kaepernick] wins,” Brockers said. “I just wish I had a little more speed to get there. I felt like I made the right play. I just wasn’t fast enough to get there.”
It was a good day for the Rams’ defense up until the final 10 minutes.
They bottled up Kaepernick fairly well for three quarters, with Aaron Donald celebrating Dominique Easley’s second-quarter sack by tackling the dancing Easley, and Easley returning the favor by tackling Donald after Donald’s third-quarter sack.
Free safety Cody Davis set up the Rams’ second touchdown when he intercepted an overthrown Kaepernick pass intended for Kyle Nelson and returned it 29 yards to the 49ers 30-yard line with 2:41 left in the first quarter.
And cornerback E.J. Gaines set up the Rams’ third touchdown when his low hit on Carlos Hyde after the running back’s catch in the left flat forced a fumble that end Morgan Fox scooped up and returned 11 yards to the San Franciso 25-yard line with 12:45 left in the game.
Five plays later, Rams quarterback Jared Goff hit tight end Tyler Higbee with a two-yard touchdown pass for a 21-7 lead with 10:32 left. But the 49ers drove 75 yards in 13 plays, with Kaepernick scrambling from 13 yards out for a touchdown that cut the Rams’ lead to 21-14 with 5:06 left.
The key play on the drive, on a fourth-and-eight from the Rams 23, was a 10-yard pass to Rod Streater, who beat Gaines on the left side.
The Rams blew a 14-point lead late in the fourth quarter to fall to the San Francisco 49ers, 22-21, for the second time this season.
The Rams went three-and-out on their next possession, San Francisco taking over at its 27 with 3:10 left. Kaepernick hit Garrett Celek for 12 yards and Streater for 11 yards, and a controversial unnecessary-roughness penalty on Davis gave the 49ers a first down at the Rams’ 35 with 1:56 left.
Six plays later, Kaepernick threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Streater, who beat Gaines on a quick slant, and added the two-point conversion for the win.
“We started decent, how we wanted, and then obviously, in the third quarter, we just couldn’t get anything going on offense,” interim Coach John Fassel said. “I think our defense got tired, and I think that caught up to us at the end of the game.”
Donald, the three-time Pro Bowl selection, said it “don’t matter” how much the defense is on the field.
“We were winning in the fourth quarter, and we didn’t finish,” Donald said. “It’s not the offense. It’s a team game, and we lost as a team today.
“It was in our hands to get off the field and get the ball back to the offense, and we didn’t do that. We could have gotten after the quarterback a little more on that last drive, but what happened, happened.”
Gaines declined to speak to reporters. Cornerback Trumaine Johnson also waved a reporter away, but when he agreed to speak a few minutes later, the frustration of the Rams’ 10th loss in 11 games was clearly evident.
“We’re just not finishing games, man,” Johnson said. “Up 21-7, with our defense? It should be game over.”
Twitter: @MikeDiGiovanna
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