An early lead turned into a huge deficit before the St. Louis Rams made an impressive comeback, but they were unable to pull off the upset in a 34-27 defeat against the San Francisco 49ers. The win clinches the No. 2 seed in the NFC for the 49ers, who will now receive a first-round bye in the postseason.
San Francisco took a 20-7 lead into halftime and extended that lead to 27-10 after three quarters, but St. Louis didn't simply back down even with nothing to play for. Quarterback Kellen Clemens led the offense on a 10-play, 45-yard drive just a couple minutes into the fourth quarter to cut the lead to two scores, but San Francisco extended its lead to 34-13 after another touchdown.
The Rams made things awfully interesting, though. First came an impressive 36-yard touchdown pass from Clemens to wide receiver Brandon Lloyd:
That score cut the lead to 34-20. And after recovering an onside kick at midfield, the Rams went down the field and scored another touchdown to cut the lead to just seven points. They would get the ball back again after a defensive stop, but they couldn't score again to complete the comeback. San Francisco managed to get a few first downs and run out the clock.
San Francisco only gained ten more yards than St. Louis, but they benefited greatly from recovering two Rams fumbles while avoiding any turnovers of their own. San Francisco finishes the year at 13-3, while the Rams finish at 2-14.
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