Week 9
Sunday, Oct.29, at 3COM Park, 4:15pm ET
Carolina Panthers
vs
San Francisco 49ers
24
 
34

Jeff Garcia led the Niners with 51 yards rushing Sunday. 
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- It doesn't matter who's taking the snaps for the St. Louis Rams, as long as he gets the ball to Marshall Faulk.

Faulk caught two touchdown passes, including a 16-yard reception from Trent Green for the go-ahead score with 10:21 to play, and rushed for two more TDs as the Rams beat the San Francisco 49ers 34-24 Sunday.

St. Louis (7-1) rebounded from its first defeat and the loss of MVP Kurt Warner, who wore a headset on the sideline after breaking his finger last week at Kansas City.

In his first NFL start since 1998, Green didn't look much like Warner until it counted most.

The Super Bowl champs scored the game's final 17 points, piled up 447 total yards -- 283 after halftime -- and shut out San Francisco (2-7) in the last 23 minutes. The game also was a solid return for Bud Carson, who took over the Rams' defense last week.

Instead of a high-scoring duel between two of the NFL's most prolific offenses, fans at 3Com Park saw punts, penalties, dropped passes and frustration.

Green, who was 22-of-39 for 310 yards, struggled early, but led three late scoring drives with a big assist from Faulk, who had 144 total yards while tying the Rams' team record with his four TDs.

St. Louis won its 12th straight NFC West game and beat the 49ers for the fourth straight time.

Rams kicker Pete Stoyanovich added a 46-yard field goal with 3:45 to play. San Francisco's final drive ended with 2:13 left when Mike Jones tipped a long pass away from Terrell Owens.

The 49ers lost their fourth straight despite another strong game from Jeff Garcia, who was 26-of-44 for 244 yards and two TDs. He even led San Francisco with 51 yards rushing. Owens caught eight passes for 115 yards and two touchdowns.

Faulk, the NFL's leader in total yards from scrimmage, rushed 19 times for 83 yards and caught six passes for 61 yards. Isaac Bruce had eight catches for 126 yards.

Tied 24-24, the game turned when Charlie Garner's 75-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter was called back on a holding penalty against 49ers center Jeremy Newberry. Az-Zahir Hakim returned San Francisco's resulting punt 30 yards, and Faulk slipped into the end zone four plays later to catch an expertly thrown pass by Green.

Green also led a 78-yard scoring drive late in the third quarter, hitting Faulk with an 18-yard TD pass that tied the game.

When San Francisco's Travis Jervey returned the opening kickoff 68 yards, it appeared the promised offensive fireworks show would come to pass. Garner scored on a 4-yard run just 95 seconds into the game.

But things settled down as neither team could establish a consistent rushing game and San Francisco's young secondary controlled the Rams' passing offense. Faulk didn't catch a pass in the first half as San Francisco grabbed a 17-14 lead.



 
FINAL
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
Total
St.Louis 
7
7
10
10
34
San Francisco
7
10
7
0
24
..... 
 
SCORING SUMMARY
1st Quarter
SFO TD CHARLIE GARNER 4 YD RUN (WADE RICHEY KICK), 1:34. Drive: 3 plays, 20 yards in 1:35. Key plays: Jervey 68-yard kickoff return to St Louis 20; Garcia 14-yard pass to Beasley to St Louis 4. San Francisco 7-0
STL TD MARSHALL FAULK 1 YD RUN (PETE STOYANOVICH KICK), 11:01. Drive: 7 plays, 59 yards in 3:03. Key plays: Green 15-yard pass to Holt to St Louis 46; Green 36-yard pass to Bruce on 3rd-and-6 to San Francisco 19; Faulk 18 yard run to San Francisco 1. St Louis 7, San Francisco 7
2nd Quarter
SFO FG WADE RICHEY 44 YD, 1:59. Drive: 7 plays, 12 yards in 3:28. Key plays: Beasley 3-yard run on 3rd-and-2 to St Louis 27; Garcia 8-yard pass to Owens to St Louis 26. San Francisco 10-7
STL TD MARSHALL FAULK 1 YD RUN (PETE STOYANOVICH KICK), 12:06. Drive: 5 plays, 32 yards in 3:21. Key plays: Hakim 47-yard punt return to San Francisco 32; Green 14-yard pass to Bruce to San Francisco 15; Green 13-yard pass to Hakim to San Francisco 1. St Louis 14-10
SFO TD TERRELL OWENS 53 YD PASS FROM JEFF GARCIA (WADE RICHEY KICK), 13:16. Drive: 4 plays, 66 yards in 1:10. Key plays: Garcia 13-yard pass to Rice to San Francisco 38; Garcia 9-yard pass to Rice on 3rd-and-6 to San Francisco 47. San Francisco 17-14
3rd Quarter
STL FG PETE STOYANOVICH 48 YD, 2:10. Drive: 7 plays, 39 yards in 2:11. Key plays: Green 22-yard pass to Bruce to San Francisco 46; Green 27-yard pass to Proehl to St Louis 29. St Louis 17, San Francisco 17
SFO TD TERRELL OWENS 17 YD PASS FROM JEFF GARCIA (WADE RICHEY KICK), 6:50. Drive: 10 plays, 68 yards in 4:39. Key plays: Garcia 13-yard pass to Rice on 3rd-and-10 to San Francisco 45; Garcia 15-yard run on 3rd-and-6 to St Louis 36; Garner 10-yard run to St Louis 24. San Francisco 24-17
STL TD MARSHALL FAULK 19 YD PASS FROM TRENT GREEN (PETE STOYANOVICH KICK), 11:22. Drive: 8 plays, 78 yards in 4:32. Key plays: Faulk 13-yard run to St Louis 41; Green 18-yard pass to Bruce to San Francisco 43; Green 18-yard pass to. Bruce to San Francisco 25. St Louis 24, San Francisco 24
4th Quarter
STL TD MARSHALL FAULK 16 YD PASS FROM TRENT GREEN (PETE STOYANOVICH KICK), 4:39. Drive: 4 plays, 31 yards in 1:37. Key plays: Hakim 30-yard punt return to San Francisco 31; Green 14-yard pass to Holt to San Francisco 16. St Louis 31-24
STL FG PETE STOYANOVICH 46 YD, 11:15. Drive: 9 plays, 59 yards in 4:51. Key plays: Green 9-yard pass to Faulk on 3rd-and-6 to St. Louis 27; Watson 24-yard run to San Francisco 49; Watson 16-yard run to San Francisco 33. St Louis 34-24

 
Team Stats STL SFO
FIRST DOWNS
3RD-DOWN EFFICIENCY
4TH-DOWN EFFICIENCY
TOTAL NET YARDS
Total plays
Average gain
NET YARDS RUSHING
Rushes
Average per rush
NET YARDS PASSING
Completed-attempted
Yards per pass
Sacked-yards lost
PUNTS-AVERAGE
RETURN YARDAGE
Punts-returns
Kickoffs-returns
Interceptions-returns
PENALTIES-YARDS
FUMBLES-LOST
TIME OF POSSESSION
22
5-14
0-0
447
71
6.3
149
30
5.0
298
22-39
7.3
2-12
5-42.4
181
3-91
4-90
0-0
11-90
1-0
33:58
15
6-16
0-1
325
64
5.1
92
18
5.1
233
26-44
5.1
2-10
6-43.8
184
3-23
6-153
1-8
8-80
2-0
26:02

 
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
Missed field goals
San Francisco (Wade Richey 53, 49). 
St Louis rushing
Marshall Faulk 19-83, Justin Watson 4-43, Ernie Conwell 1-17, Trent Green 5-6, Robert Holcombe 1-0. 
San Francisco rushing
Jeff Garcia 4-51, Charlie Garner 10-28, Fred Beasley 3-11, Paul Smith 1-2. 
St Louis passing
Trent Green 22-39 for 310 yards, 1 INT, 2 TD. 
San Francisco passing
Jeff Garcia 26-44 for 243 yards, 0 INT, 2 TD. 
St Louis receiving
Isaac Bruce 8-129, Marshall Faulk 6-61, Torry Holt 5-64, Az-zahir Hakim 2-18, Ricky Proehl 1-27, Robert Holcombe 0-11. 
San Francisco receiving
Terrell Owens 8-115, Jerry Rice 6-53, Charlie Garner 6-30, Greg Clark 3-17, Fred Beasley 2-14, Jj Stokes 1-14. 
St Louis tackles-assists-sacks (unofficial)
London Fletcher 7-1-0, Dre Bly 6-0-0, Dexter Mccleon 4-2-0, Keith Lyle 4-1-0, Grant Wistrom 4-1-1.5, Mike Jones 4-0-0, Devin Bush 2-1-0, Ray Agnew 1-1-0, Jacoby Shepherd 1-1-0, Lorenzo Styles 1-1-0, Kevin Carter 1-1-0.5, Sean Moran 0-2-0, Todd Lyght 1-0-0, Leonard Little 1-0-0. 
San Francisco tackles-assists-sacks (unofficial)
Monty Montgomery 7-1-0, Ahmed Plummer 5-1-0, Pierson Prioleau 3-3-0, Jason Webster 2-3-0, Ken Norton 2-2-0, Lance Schulters 1-3-0, Bryant Young 1-3-0, Cedric Killings 0-4-0, John Engelberger 3-0-1, Jeff Posey 2-1-0, Anthony Parker 2-1-0, Nate Hobgood-chittick 2-1-0, Anthony Pleasant 0-3-0, Brentson Buckner 1-1-1, Artie Ulmer 0-2-0, Chike Okeafor 1-0-0, Jeff Ulbrich 0-1-0. 
Interceptions
San Francisco (Jason Webster 1 for 8 yards).
Fumbles lost
None. 
Opponent's fumbles recovered
None. 
Officials
Referee-Ed Hochuli, Umpire-Neil Gereb, Head linesman-Mark Hittner, Line judge-Mark Pearlman, Field judge-Jim Saracino, Side judge-Laird Hayes, Back judge-Mike Carey. 
A: 68,109; T: 3:24.
....