ST. LOUIS — The San Francisco 49ers defense got beat early by unfamiliar plays and Austin Davis calling the signals.
“No disrespect, but I didn’t know who their quarterback was,” linebacker Ahmad Brooks said. “We got some good pressure on him. That helped us.”
Davis was sacked five times, twice each by Brooks and Dan Skuta. They carried the day, keeping the St. Louis Rams offense stalled, and giving Colin Kaepernick a chance to warm up in a 31-17 victory on Monday night.
Kaepernick threw for 343 yards and three touchdowns for the 49ers, who erased an early 14-point deficit. The defense stepped up again when Dontae Johnson returned an interception return for a TD in the final minute to seal it.
“Talk about an opportunity, I had the chance to make a play,” Johnson said.
Brandon Lloyd, Anquan Boldin and Michael Crabtree each caught a scoring pass for the 49ers (4-2), who have won three in a row. The 49ers permitted one first down on St. Louis’ first six possessions of the second half.
“We’ve had the ball in every game with a chance to either win or tie,” Davis said. “That’s where hopefully my experience will help, the more opportunities I get.
“You’ve got to be able to go win games at the end.”
Kaepernick had plenty of time to throw and wasn’t sacked.
“We just want to win,” Kaepernick said. “Whatever it takes, if we’re up with the lead or if we have to come from behind.”
Kaepernick found Boldin zipping across the end zone for an 11-yard touchdown pass, capping a go-ahead 80-yard drive to start the second half. As the Niners were taking the 17-14 lead, several fans in the upper deck unfurled a large banner above the videoboard on the opposite end of the stadium as part of ongoing protests about the Michael Brown shooting in suburban Ferguson in August.
San Francisco then added to its advantage when Kaepernick connected with Crabtree for a 32-yard score with 13 seconds left in the third.
The Rams had one last chance to tie the game, but Johnson returned an interception 20 yards for the clinching score with 53 seconds to go.
It was a disappointing conclusion for St. Louis, which had 151 yards and a 14-0 lead after the first quarter on Benny Cunningham’s 1-yard run and a 22-yard touchdown reception for Lance Kendricks.
“We always see different looks in a game,” Skuta said. “They hadn’t done some of the things they did early. We adjusted and we kept playing, that’s something we do really well.”
St. Louis wore throwback uniforms — royal blue and bright yellow — to honor its 1999 Super Bowl title team and represented that winning squad very well for a short time. Guard Adam Timmerman joined wide receivers Isaac Bruce and Torry Holt for an impromptu bob n’ weave TD dance in the end zone at halftime.
Giants WR Cruz out for season
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — New York Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz is out for the season.
Coach Tom Coughlin said Monday that Cruz will need surgery to repair a torn patellar tendon in his right knee. He did not know when the surgery would be performed or the length of the rehabilitation.
The 27-year-old Cruz was hurt in the third quarter of a 27-0 loss to the Eagles on Sunday night. The injury happened as the fifth-year veteran tried to catch a fourth-down pass in the end zone with the Giants trailing 20-0. He grabbed his knee and was crying as he was carted off the field. There was no contact on the play.
Cruz was admitted to Jefferson Hospital in Philadelphia on Sunday night and was transferred on Monday to the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York, where he will undergo evaluation.
A Pro Bowl pick in 2012, Cruz is known for his salsa dance after scoring touchdowns.
Seattle-Carolina game to CBS
NEW YORK — The key NFC matchup between the Seahawks and Panthers will air on CBS as part of the NFL’s new “cross-flexing.”
The league said Monday that the Oct. 26 game at Carolina will be on CBS instead of Fox, which owns the NFC package. The policy change in the current TV rights agreement aims to gain bigger audiences for appealing games. CBS owns the AFC package.
The Panthers and defending Super Bowl champion Seattle are both 3-2 going into this weekend’s games.
By wire sources