The San Francisco 49ers didn’t make it easy on themselves early or late, but in between then Colin Kaepernick bailed them out with a strong game in a 31-17 victory over the St. Louis Rams on Monday night.
Kaepernick, who had been 3-0 on Monday nights with three strong games entering this one, delivered another gem in the 49ers’ third straight win. *It was the third 300-yard passing game of his career as he completed 22 of 36 passes for 343 yards with three touchdowns, and three rushes for 37 yards.
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The Rams came out firing early —*and it was the kids doing a lot of the work. Rookies Greg Robinson (first round) made his first career start at left guard after only 10 offensive snaps prior to Monday, and running back Tre Mason (third round) saw his first NFL action. Robinson held his own in a few matchups with 49ers defensive end Justin Smith, one of the best in the business, and Mason caught a swing pass for 12 yards down to the San Francisco 5-yard line.
Tavon Austin, the team’s 2013 first-round pick who has struggled to consistently make big plays, got in the action with two straight handoffs for 8 and 2 yards. The 11-play, 80-yard drive —*maybe the Rams’ best of the season —*was spurred by a 39-yard pass from Austin Davis to Jared Cook and capped by a 1-yard Bennie Cunningham touchdown blast, for a 7-0 Rams lead.
The 49ers, meanwhile, came out flat. After missing two straight games, tight end Vernon Davis ran a poor route on the 49ers’ first play, and it was nearly intercepted by Rams sixth-round corner E.J. Gaines. A play later, Davis was guilty of a false start.
After they punted on their first possession, the 49ers’ promising second drive was short-circuited by a fumble on a 21-yard catch and run by tight end Vance McDonald.
The Rams took advantage. James Laurinaitis returned the fumble 17 yards, and Mason took his first NFL carry 24 yards. Then on 3rd and 1, the Rams took advantage of an aggressive 49ers defense. Davis made a great play-action fake, sucking in 49ers DBs Eric Reid and Chris Culliver, and hitting a wide-open Lance Kendricks for a touchdown and a 14-0 lead. Despite some sketchy pass protection at times from the Rams, Davis moved around the pocket and improvised well in the first half.
The 49ers finally awakened*—*slightly. They almost blocked a Johnny Hekker punt, causing it to go a mere 13 yards and giving them the ball at the St. Louis 43. Kaepernick, though, missed on passes on second and third downs and the 49ers had to settle for a 54-yard Phil Dawson field goal. That cut the lead to 14-3.
The Rams appeared to have the game locked at that score heading into the half, with the 49ers backed up at their own 20-yard line on 3rd and 6, with fewer than 30 seconds left. But silent assassin Brandon Lloyd put a double move on Rams corner Janoris Jenkins, who had no idea the situation of the game, and roasted him for a stunning 80-yard score to cut the lead to 14-10.
That was the start of the momentum change toward the 49ers.
Kaepernick started to take over the game on the first drive of the second half. He made a circus throw on the sideline to a tumbling Frank Gore, and even though it was reversed on replay review, you could see Kaepernick’s confidence rising. He ripped off a 23-yard scramble and later made a clutch throw on 3rd and 12 in Rams territory, hitting Boldin —*who was huge all night —*for 15 yards and new life.
Three plays later, Kaepernick made the play of the night. He evaded pressure from four different Rams to find Boldin, who had followed Kaepernick with his scramble across the field, for an incredible 11-yard TD pass, as the 49ers took the lead at 17-14.


Two drives later, the 49ers asserted their will again. Stevie Johnson had completions of 20 and nine yards, and Boldin coverted a key third down. Then Michael Crabtree —*quiet much of the night previously —*ran a post-corner-post on Gaines, who had no deep safety help on the Rams’ seven-man blitz, and Kaepernick found him wide open for a 32-yard score to make it 24-14, 49ers.



Davis started getting a little shaky, and that pass protection hardly improved. He was hurried several times in the second half and at one point early in the fourth quarter had a string of eight straight incompletions.
The 49ers looked to put the Rams away midway through the fourth. Kaepernick got away with a dumb play, throwing a ball up for grabs while he was in the grasp of Rams defensive end Williams Hayes, who bailed him out with a horse-collar takedown, giving the 49ers a first and goal at the St. Louis 2. But they were stopped on 4th and goal there and later stopped on 4th and 1 at the St. Louis 34 —*with a questionable 49ers coaching decision, not attempting a field goal —*to give the Rams life down only 10 points.
Davis drove the Rams into the 49ers’ red zone, but he missed a wide-open Cook for what could have been a touchdown. Instead, they settled for a field goal to cut the 49ers’ lead to 24-17 with 2:24 left.
The 49ers fell on the onsides kick attempt but couldn’t run out the clock. After a punt, Davis took over on his own 9-yard line with 1:05 left, but he stared down Kenny Britt and 49ers rookie corner Dontae Johnson, who brought it back to the house for a game-sealing 20-yard touchdown return.
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Eric Edholm is a writer for Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Eric_Edholm