Heading into Week 12, the St. Louis Rams hadn't won a game since Week 5 of the season, and many thought their playoff hopes were dead in the water. Enter the outlook at the end of Week 13 and things have done a complete 180.
St. Louis is now 5-6-1 and in the thick of the NFC playoff hunt. After two wins in a row, the Rams are currently eying the division rival Seattle Seahawks for the No. 6 seed. They are still two games back because of Russell Wilson's late-game heroics at Soldier Field.
However, their four remaining contests are all winnable games from a record and talent standpoint. Buffalo, Tampa Bay and Seattle on the road with Minnesota at home—honestly, are any of those four teams any better than the Rams by a wide-margin?
Some would say Tampa Bay and Seattle, yet St. Louis is undefeated against the NFC West this season and Tampa Bay has had a hard time deciding whether or not they are pretenders or contenders. Moreover, it's also important the Rams don't lose focus and get ahead of themselves.
Jeff Fisher knows better than anyone that the league is truly a quarter-to-quarter league. Today's game against the 49ers is a perfect example of that analogy. Heading into halftime, Coach Fisher's club looked miserable, yet they never lost hope as they outscored San Francisco 16-6 in the second half.
The second half onslaught all started when the Rams failed to convert on offense deep into 49ers territory. On fourth-and-1 from the four-yard line, quarterback Sam Bradford tried to hit wide receiver Austin Pettis in the corner of the end zone, which would have cut the game to a one-score affair.
Unfortunately for the Rams, San Francisco cornerback Tarell Brown knocked the ball right out of Pettis' hands. A momentum swing appeared to turn in the 49ers favor, except a Colin Kaepernick intentional grounding penalty from the end zone handed St. Louis their first two points of the game, one drive later.
Not to mention the fact momentum was back in its favor.
Fast forward to the fourth quarter when the Rams were down 10-2 with 3:04 left to play—it was third-and-3 from the 49ers own 17-yard line, and they were looking to run a pitch play to wide receiver Ted Ginn.
The play appeared as if it would have picked up the three yards needed to pick up the first down, yet a poor pitch from Kaepernick allowed Janoris Jenkins to fall on the ball and roll in the end zone from two yards out. The fourth-quarter touchdown marked his third defensive touchdown in the last two weeks.
Undoubtedly, it would be easy to say Greg Zuerlein's 54-yard field goal to win the game in overtime was the biggest play of the game, however he would have never even had the opportunity if it wasn't for Jenkins' scoop and score.
We all know Brian Schottenheimer's offense wasn't scoring a touchdown against Vic Fangio's defense without Danny Amendola.
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