By Nick Wagoner
Senior Writer
SAN FRANCISCO – In terms of aesthetics, the Rams’ win against the 49ers on Sunday won’t be entered in a beauty pageant any time soon.

But considering the way the first half of the season went, coach Scott Linehan and his team aren’t at all concerned with how it happened only that they got their second win of the season at Monster Park on Sunday.

In a 13-9 win that gave both punters plenty of opportunities to make a case for a Pro Bowl trip, the Rams played plenty of defense and just enough offense and special teams to escape with their second consecutive victory and the 500th win in the history of the franchise.

The Rams are now 2-8 on the season, but riding a real, live winning streak for the first time since rattling off three straight wins at the end of the 2006 season.

“I have learned this coming from an offensive background and offensive coordinator and offensive head coach there are not style points in winning and losing,” Linehan said. “There’s just a lot of happiness all around when it comes to winning. The greatest thing about this game was even though the score was a low score it was a team victory and I was very proud of how all three phases played.”

There was certainly plenty to be proud of on the defensive side of the ball in Sunday’s game. Although San Francisco entered the game last in the league in total defense, the Rams defense has rarely been able to rise to the challenge of being the team’s dominant unit in recent years regardless of opponent.

On Sunday, there was no doubting which side of the ball made the biggest difference. By the end of the day, the 49ers had just 244 total yards with a pair of turnovers and the Rams had racked up three sacks, seven tackles for loss and five three and outs.

None of those plays were bigger than Oshiomogho Atogwe’s game-saving interception as time expired, though. While the defense performed well most of the day, it still had to come up with a big stop in the closing seconds.

With three seconds to go, quarterback Trent Dilfer fired deep with seven Rams lining the goal line to keep the ball in front of them. Atogwe jumped on a pass intended for Darrell Jackson and slid down at the St. Louis 7 to preserve the win.

“We knew they needed a touchdown,” Atogwe said. “It’s the last play of the game so we are going to defend the end zone at all costs.”

For the second week in a row, the defense executed coordinator Jim Haslett’s game plan to perfection. In the victory against New Orleans last week, the mission was to create pressure on quarterback Drew Brees and force him into mistakes. That plan worked and the Rams got their first win.

This week, the attention turned to stopping perennial thorn in the side running back Frank Gore and get after stationary target Dilfer.

Nothing was more important than slowing Gore and the Rams’ much maligned run defense came up with perhaps its best performance of the season. One week after holding New Orleans to 43 yards on 11 carries, San Francisco mustered 32 yards on 16 carries with a long gain of 7 yards.

“The things we are trying to do, we are doing well,” Haslett said. “We stopped the run, which was our No. 1 objective going into the game.”

Gore finished with 32 yards on 15 attempts and never really came close to duplicating the 43-yard touchdown run he had in the first meeting. Haslett showed his defense the tape of that run early in the week to serve as a reminder of what Gore can do on any given play.

 “We knew San Francisco likes to run the ball, they like to run downhill,” defensive tackle Adam Carriker said. “It was just a reminder that this is what he can do even on one play. You can hold him for 30 rushes in a game but then he gets that one big rush. You have to make him work for every yard he gets.”

Gore certainly put in his time to grind out all 32 of his yards, but there simply was nowhere to run for most of the game. For the better part of the game, Carriker and fellow rookie Clifton Ryan stuffed the middle with linebackers Will Witherspoon, Pisa Tinoisamoa and Brandon Chillar hitting all of their run fills on time and tackling in space.

The defense was so dominant in the third quarter that the 49ers posted just 14 yards of total offense in a quarter that essentially served as a punt off for a Pro Bowl spot between San Francisco’s Andy Lee and the Rams’ Donnie Jones.

After three quarters of controlling the game, though, things began to get difficult in the final moments of the game. San Francisco’s Joe Nedney booted a 38-yard field goal to cut the Rams’ lead to 13-6 with 6:07 to play.

After getting the ball back, Dilfer and the 49ers began to take shots down the field with plenty of success. On first-and-10 at the Rams 28, San Francisco appeared poised to tie the game.

As tight end Vernon Davis sprinted down the seam, it appeared Dilfer has his man and the tie was forthcoming. The ball hung in the air for a second and Tinoisamoa stayed with Davis step for step.

Tinoisamoa said he never really saw the ball, but when he saw Davis’ eyes get big; he knew to make a play on the ball. Davis seemed to have the ball, but Tinoisamoa got an arm in the way and knocked the ball to the ground.

Dilfer took two more shots deep, but ultimately had to settle for a field goal.

“We practiced that play all week,” Tinoisamoa said. “I knew he had speed, but I still didn’t get the position that I wanted to. I knew I was one on one with him. I knew it was late in the game and I knew it was a big play so I just ran and tried to poke it out. Fortunately that’s how the ball was rolling today.”

Had the ball been rolling that way for the offense, there wouldn’t have been as many tense moments for the Rams down the stretch. After an impressive opening drive that ended with a 3-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Marc Bulger to receiver Torry Holt, the offense couldn’t get back into rhythm.

Bulger finished 21-of-32 for 155 yards and the Rams ran for 102 yards as a team, but they also ended with just 207 net yards because Bulger was once again under heavy pressure from the San Francisco defense.

For the second time this season, the 49ers sacked Bulger six times. On the season, San Francisco has 19 sacks, 12 of those against Bulger.

It was those negative yardage plays that hurt the offense the most according to Linehan.

“A lot of it was lost yardage,” Linehan said. “Sacks today took a lot of our momentum away.”

On the bright side, though, the offense went without a turnover for the second consecutive week, a statistic that bears direct correlation to the Rams winning for the second week in a row.

“You can overcome those, but not turnovers,” Linehan said. “I guess if there is a positive in that and I had my choice I would take one over the other.”

Maybe the offense didn’t click like it did against the Saints a week ago, but Carriker and the defense are ready to let everyone know that the days of the Rams having to outscore everyone to win are coming to an end.

“If the defense keeps playing like it’s capable who knows what we can do,” Carriker said.

For now, it’s good enough for a two-game winning streak and a landmark victory for the franchise.