Offensive ineptitude was the name of the game for the 49ers in their 25-17 loss to the St. Louis Rams. Troy Smith started at quarterback and went 7-for-19 for 153 yards and one touchdown against one interception. Alex Smith came in with ten minutes left in the fourth quarter and completed 10-of-15 for 120 yards with no scores and no interceptions. Most of the yardage was in chunks, and over a 60-minute period, the quarterback position looked even worse than the stats would imply.
Troy had some good passes, but relied far too much on just throwing it in the general direction of the man downfield. He ignored options underneath and hesitated in the pocket. Alex wasn't much better, instead checking down before giving a glance downfield. They're two halves one whole, fantastic quarterback, but it will never work.
Troy Smith fumbled three times but none of them were lost. Alex fumbled once and it was lost, and sealed the game for the 49ers. But that's not where the 49ers lost the will to fight, that occurred much sooner. The Niners were down by one and Jeff Reed lined up to kick a 34-yard field goal and missed it. From then on, the Rams scored, the 49ers scored and then the Rams went ahead and did it again. The 49ers had no answer.
More on the game a bit later.
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