By Nick Wagoner
Senior Writer

For the second time in as many weeks, a victory was there for the taking for the Rams.

In the box score, the Rams dominated the 49ers in just about every phase of the game. But a box score doesn’t always tell the story. Although the Rams had the better day statistically, the only numbers that mattered didn’t come out on their end against San Francisco on Sunday.

Despite myriad opportunities to put the 49ers away and a chance to win it at the end, the Rams fell just short in a disappointing 17-16 loss at the Edward Jones Dome.

“We didn’t finish two weeks in a row,” coach Scott Linehan said. “We have got to find ways, when you have got a lead, lead at halftime, lead in the third quarter, to sustain it and finish out games."

While Linehan takes the blame for the Rams’ 0-2 start, there were a few particular miscues that cost the Rams a chance at an impressive win after a tumultuous week.

Nursing a 16-14 lead with about six minutes to go, the Rams defense came up with a key stop, setting up a chance for the Rams offense to control the ball and run out the clock.

As Dante Hall waited for the punt from Andy Lee’s foot, he had about four and a half seconds to make an important decision. Hall decided he wanted to make a big play, instead of settling for a fair catch.

Hall’s M.O. for years has been making big plays in the return game and he has never had an issue with fumbling. But this time, Hall muffed the return and San Francisco’s Marcus Hudson recovered at the St. Louis 26.

Three plays later, kicker Joe Nedney booted a 40-yard field goal to give San Francisco a 17-16 lead.

A downtrodden Hall blamed himself for the mistake after the game.

“I knew they were coming down on me,” Hall said. “It was just a bonehead play. I have no excuse. That’s a routine play for me, fair catch it. It’s frustrating. I was trying to make a play and I should have just fair caught it.”

Even after Nedney’s field goal, the Rams found themselves with opportunities to come up with a victory.

The Rams got another possession after the field goal, but couldn’t muster a first down. The defense, as it had all day, came up with another stop, setting up the Rams’ final drive.

Quarterback Marc Bulger took over the reigns at the St. Louis 20 with 1:53 to go. Bulger had been under fire for most of the day as San Francisco repeatedly stacked one side of the line and brought blitz after blitz against the Rams’ revamped offensive line.

Bulger was sacked six times and hit probably a dozen more, but he stood in the pocket on the final drive and helped move the Rams into San Francisco territory.

After a pair of completions to receiver Isaac Bruce for 9 yards each and a 12-yard connection with receiver Drew Bennett, Bulger hurried to the line and spiked the ball even though there was over a minute to play.

The loss of the down didn’t seem too important at the time, but it became significant on the next play when Bryant Young sacked Bulger for a 7-yard loss.

“I wish I had the down back now,” Linehan said. “You look back on it; I wish I had the down back. I did not count on a sack or a negative yardage play. I thought in two plays we could get the first down and keep driving. We did not want to rush it. If I had to do it all over again I probably would have called the play. That was my call.”

On third down, Bulger hit Bruce for a 14-yard gain that left the Rams with a fourth-and-3 at San Francisco’s 38.

Before each game, kicker Jeff Wilkins kicks from a variety of distances to get a feel for what his limit would be during a game.

This week, as it was last week, Wilkins’ limit was the 35-yard line or a 53-yard field goal. Wilkins had hit from that distance relatively easily earlier in the fourth quarter. But this was about 3 yards deeper and Wilkins knew that it wasn’t going to be easy.

Hoping that the adrenaline would carry the ball far enough to get the job done, Linehan sent Wilkins out to attempt the potential game winning kick.

“When it comes down to something like that, it was the only decision that could have been made,” Wilkins said. “We had to try it and usually that’s when I rely on adrenaline to maybe get me a couple more yards and I hit it and I don’t know what it would have been good from, but it was pretty close.”

It’s impossible to blame Wilkins for missing from that distance with the game on the line as his kick fell about 2 feet short, but the reality is that the game should never have come to that in the first place.

Defensively, the Rams put together one of their finest efforts in a long time, holding the 49ers to 186 total yards and coming up with a key fumble recovery from rookie defensive tackle Clifton Ryan late in the game.

Every time the offense needed the ball back, the defense found a way to get it. In fact, San Francisco had six three-and-outs against the Rams on Sunday.

With the exception of Frank Gore’s 43-yard touchdown run on fourth-and-1 – a play in which safety Corey Chavous said he attempted to strip the ball and missed the tackle to spring Gore loose – the defense dominated the 49ers.

Alas, it wasn’t enough.

“I think we definitely did a good job today,” linebacker Will Witherspoon said. “We let one run out. But for the most part, I think we did a great job in stopping the run and holding plays to a minimum.”

Meanwhile, the 49ers were having plenty of trouble keeping the Rams offense to a minimum. Bulger stood tall in the face of relentless pressure as he rolled up 368 yards on 24-of-41 passing with a 12-yard touchdown strike to receiver Torry Holt.

The 49ers sacked Bulger six times, but he found ways to get the ball to his receivers. Unfortunately for him, though, the offense faced a similar problem to the one that plagued it early in the 2006 season.

Costly turnovers kept the Rams out of the end zone aside from Holt’s touchdown. With 7:44 to go in the third quarter, Bulger hit Holt on a crossing route for a big gain. As Holt attempted to find a way into the end zone, San Francisco cornerback Nate Clements came from behind and knocked the ball away in perfect rhythm.

The ball scooted away and unluckily bounced out of the end zone for a touchback and a turnover. It was the type of play that summed up the Rams’ day as Bulger also lost a fumble early in the game.

All told, the Rams had three turnovers, but the 49ers converted those miscues into 10 points, enough to steal a win and improve to 2-0.

Now, it’s up to the Rams to find a way to recover from a disappointing loss and come up with their first victory of the season next week against Tampa Bay.

“We have to play like we played today without the mistakes,” defensive end Leonard Little said. “If we don’t have the mistakes we had today, we can beat almost anybody. We made too many mistakes, they capitalized on them and they won the game. We have to keep getting after it and trying to get better.”