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Nedney lifts 49ers over Rams in OT

Nov 15, 2010 - 8:04 AM San Francisco, CA (Sports Network) - Joe Nedney hit a 29-yard field goal with 9:39 left in overtime and Troy Smith threw for a career-high 356 yards and a touchdown on 17-of-28 passing, as the San Francisco 49ers took a 23-20 victory over the St. Louis Rams at Candlestick Park.

Frank Gore ran for 87 yards and a score on 22 carries and Michael Crabtree caught four passes for 61 yards and a touchdown for San Francisco (3-6), which has won the last five meetings in this NFC West rivalry.

Sam Bradford threw for 251 yards and one score on 30-of-42 passing, and Steven Jackson rushed for 81 yards on 20 carries with a touchdown for the Rams (4-5), who have lost two of their last three.

Crabtree scored a 16-yard touchdown with 2:10 left in the fourth, and Rams kicker Josh Brown hit a 33-yard field goal as time expired to send the game into overtime.

The Rams got the ball to start the extra period, but were forced into a quick three-and-out. San Francisco started at its own 34 and used two straight Gore rushes totaling 18 yards to get into Rams territory.

After a three-yard run by Gore, Smith attempted a pass to Delanie Walker, but the ball was incomplete; however, pass interference was called on the Rams' Oshiomogho Atogwe that gave the 49ers good field position at the St. Louis 23. San Francisco then used two short Gore six-yard runs to set up the game- winning field goal.

"Any time you play a team in the division you want to win," said 49ers head coach Mike Singletary. "It was a hard fought game right down to the end, thankfully we were able to come out on top. We did some things well and I though that Troy (Smith) played well."

St. Louis took the game's opening kickoff, and, after working the ball down to the 49ers' 24, had to settle for a Brown 42-yard field goal to take an early lead.

San Francisco got the ball back after a Rams punt with 4:49 left in the first, and Gore capped the quick three-play drive with a one-yard run. Smith hit Josh Morgan for a 65-yard pass on the first play from scrimmage, and Gore punched it in two plays later.

The 49ers had the ball for the last play of the first quarter and continued into the second, where they added a Nedney 26-yard field goal with 12:04 left to give San Francisco a 10-3 lead.

On the following drive, Bradford led St. Louis on a 67-yard march that was capped when he hit Danny Amendola in the middle of the end zone from five yards out to tie the game at 10-10 with 9:08 to go in the quarter.

The tie score stood at halftime.

The Rams retook the lead in the final minutes of the third with a 13-yard touchdown run from Jackson. The score capped a 7-play, 64 yard drive that gave St. Louis a 17-10 advantage heading into the fourth quarter.

San Francisco was marching in the fourth and thought it had tied the game on a Crabtree 19-yard touchdown with 9:28 remaining; however, the 49ers were called for holding, and, after failing to convert from the St. Louis 29, settled for a 47-yard field goal from Nedney to cut the deficit to 17-13.

The 49ers got the ball back with 4:12 left in fourth. Smith connected with Gore on the first play of the drive with a short screen pass that he took 30 yards. After a 15-yard facemask penalty was tacked on to the end of the run, San Francisco had possession on the St. Louis 31.

After two straight negative yard plays and a false start penalty, San Francisco thought it had scored the go-ahead touchdown on a 43-yard strike to Vernon Davis. However, another offensive holding penalty negated the score, putting them with a difficult 3rd-and-32.

A 14-yard pass to Gore set up a fourth down situation, and Smith converted with a 23-yard strike to Gore for a first down at the Rams' 16.

The 49ers finally got the go-ahead score with 2:10 left when Smith sent a bullet to Crabtree that he grabbed at the top left corner of the end zone to take the lead, 20-17.

From there, the Rams used a successful 11-play, 70 yard drive, and Brown hit a 33-yard field goal as time expired to send the game to overtime.

"The fact that our offense battled back and got us to overtime shows a lot of character," said Rams head coach Steve Spagnuolo "(San Francisco) found a way to make one more play then we did and it's that simple."

Game Notes

The Rams have lost three straight at Candlestick dating back to 2007...San Francisco was 0-for-11 in third down conversions...Walker led the 49ers' receiving corps with 80 yards on four catches...Gore caught three passes for 67 yards...Amendola finished with seven catches for 51 yards...Smith was sacked five times, while Bradford was sacked on three occasions.