Well, that certainly got crazy in a hurry. The 49ers claimed the number two seed today with a 34-27 victory over the Rams, but it was not without a lot of late drama. The 49ers took a 34-13 lead with 6:32 left in the fourth quarter and seemed ready to cruise to victory. However, the Rams were not ready to go quietly into that good night.
Kellen Clemens connected with Brandon Lloyd on a 36-yard touchdown pass to cut the lead to 34-20. They recovered the ensuing onside kick and on the first play, Clemens fired to Lloyd in the end zone, which was able to draw a questionable pass interference call against Tarell Brown. That set the Rams up at the one yard line and they quickly scored on a Cadillac Williams run up the middle. The Rams kicked away and forced a three and out but were unable to get the potential tying touchdown. The Rams made some movement but a sack knocked Kellen Clemens from the game and Tom Brandstater threw a pair of incompletions. The 49ers ran out the clock and that was that.
After a solid first three quarters, the game got ugly fairly quickly. Nonetheless, the 49ers won and claimed the number two seed. I know some folks are pissy about the end of the game and it is understandable to be frustrated by the last few minutes. Nonetheless, the 49ers get a bye week now to get guys like Kyle Williams, Ted Ginn, Bruce Miller and numerous others healthy. Frank Gore was able to rest virtually the entire second half. Justin Smith got much of the second half off. It may not have looked pretty as it happened, but they secured the bye and that is the most important thing.
We'll be back with plenty more the rest of today and into the coming bye week as the 49ers await their playoff opponent in two weeks.