The 49ers (0-2) travel to Trans World Dome for a 1:00 ET kickoff against the St. Louis Rams (2-0), the defending Super Bowl champions and the NFC's most explosive offense.
Mariucci confirmed Jeff Garcia as the starter despite the Week 2 benching. Kurt Warner enters with two 350-yard passing games to open the year and a healthy Marshall Faulk averaging 6.4 yards a carry. Isaac Bruce and Torry Holt are the perimeter targets; Az-Zahir Hakim works the slot.[1][2]
Sunday is the test the 49ers' opening road trip should not have been. The Rams of 2000 are the same Rams of 1999 with a year of work behind the offense. Mike Martz, in his second year as the Rams' coordinator, has the most prolific aerial attack this division has produced. The 49ers' issue Sunday is not whether the offense can match the Rams. The issue is whether Garcia, off a benching, can put together the kind of week that beat reporters write into a turnaround story.
Week 3 puts the defending champions against the NFC West's lowest-projected team. Around the league the early stories are still the Rams' aerial pace, Daunte Culpepper's emergence in Minnesota, and the Jets and Dolphins both jumping out to 2-0. The Cowboys, off the Garcia-led 1999 Week 5 loss to San Francisco, opened 0-2 themselves. The Sunday at Trans World Dome is the line’s only double-digit number.
Through two games the 49ers sit at 0-2 with a minus 24 point differential. Garcia threw 3 touchdowns in the opener, was 5-of-11 before the benching in Week 2, and started the third week as the named QB1. The Rams opened with 41 and 37 points in their first two games and average 386 passing yards per game across the start. Faulk is averaging 142 from scrimmage. Vegas opens the 49ers as 14-point road underdogs, the largest spread on the slate.
| Team | Rec | Strk |
|---|---|---|
| Baltimore Ravens | 2-0 | W2 |
| Cleveland Browns | 1-1 | W1 |
| Jacksonville Jaguars | 1-1 | L1 |
| Tennessee Titans | 1-1 | W1 |
| Cincinnati Bengals | 0-1 | L1 |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | 0-1 | L1 |
| Team | Rec | Strk |
|---|---|---|
| Buffalo Bills | 2-0 | W2 |
| New York Jets | 2-0 | W2 |
| Indianapolis Colts | 1-1 | L1 |
| Miami Dolphins | 1-1 | L1 |
| New England Patriots | 0-2 | L2 |
| Team | Rec | Strk |
|---|---|---|
| Oakland Raiders | 2-0 | W2 |
| Denver Broncos | 1-1 | W1 |
| Kansas City Chiefs | 0-2 | L2 |
| San Diego Chargers | 0-2 | L2 |
| Seattle Seahawks | 0-2 | L2 |
| Team | Rec | Strk |
|---|---|---|
| St. Louis Rams | 2-0 | W2 |
| Atlanta Falcons | 1-1 | L1 |
| Carolina Panthers | 1-1 | W1 |
| New Orleans Saints | 1-1 | W1 |
| San Francisco 49ers | 0-2 | L2 |
| Team | Rec | Strk |
|---|---|---|
| Detroit Lions | 2-0 | W2 |
| Minnesota Vikings | 2-0 | W2 |
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 2-0 | W2 |
| Chicago Bears | 0-2 | L2 |
| Green Bay Packers | 0-2 | L2 |
| Team | Rec | Strk |
|---|---|---|
| New York Giants | 2-0 | W2 |
| Arizona Cardinals | 1-1 | -- |
| Philadelphia Eagles | 1-1 | L1 |
| Washington Redskins | 1-1 | L1 |
| Dallas Cowboys | 0-2 | L2 |
Reveal each quarter as you watch, the next quarter stays hidden until you tap it.
| Team | Play | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 49ers | Fred Beasley 29 yard pass from Jeff Garcia ( Wade Richey kick) | 7-0 |
| Rams | Jeff Wilkins 47 yard field goal | 7-3 |
| Team | Play | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 49ers | Wade Richey 21 yard field goal | 10-3 |
| Rams | Tony Horne 18 yard pass from Kurt Warner ( Jeff Wilkins kick) | 10-10 |
| 49ers | Charlie Garner 20 yard pass from Jeff Garcia ( Wade Richey kick) | 17-10 |
| Rams | Isaac Bruce 78 yard pass from Kurt Warner ( Jeff Wilkins kick) | 17-17 |
| Team | Play | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Rams | Marshall Faulk 1 yard rush ( Jeff Wilkins kick) | 17-24 |
| Team | Play | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Rams | Jeff Wilkins 25 yard field goal | 17-27 |
| 49ers | Terrell Owens 12 yard pass from Jeff Garcia ( Wade Richey kick) | 24-27 |
| Rams | Marshall Faulk 4 yard rush ( Jeff Wilkins kick) | 24-34 |
| Rams | Marshall Faulk 1 yard rush ( Jeff Wilkins kick) | 24-41 |
Kurt Warner threw for 394 yards and two touchdowns, Marshall Faulk ran for 134 and three scores, and Isaac Bruce caught 8 for 188 with a touchdown as the Rams beat the 49ers 41-24 at Trans World Dome to drop San Francisco to 0-3. Jeff Garcia bounced back from the Week 2 benching with 290 passing yards and three touchdowns, including a 65-yard strike to Terrell Owens. Charlie Garner ran 15 times for 87.[1][2]
Kurt Warner threw for 394 yards. Marshall Faulk ran for 134 and three touchdowns. Isaac Bruce caught 188. The 49ers lost 41-24 and the box score for Garcia on the visiting side reads as if it belonged to a winning team: 21-of-34 for 290, three touchdowns, two interceptions, a 65-yard touchdown strike to Terrell Owens.
The 49ers are 0-3 because the Rams are not a road game; they are a measure. The 49ers do not have a comparable wing of the offense to throw back at Warner. The defensive secondary on Sunday allowed the third 300-plus passing day of the year. Bruce caught eight for one-eighty-eight in a stretch of the game when the visitors were already three scores down.
Rams 41, 49ers 24. Margin: minus 17. Record: 0-3, minus 41 differential.
A 41-24 road loss in St. Louis. The 49ers fall to 0-3 with all three losses inside the conference.
How it unfolded
Garcia opened with a 9-play scoring drive: Beasley's 1-yard touchdown run to make it 7-3 after the Rams' opening field goal. The Rams answered with two Faulk touchdowns in the second quarter and a Bruce 23-yard touchdown reception to take a 17-7 halftime lead. The third quarter belonged to St. Louis: a 7-yard Faulk touchdown to push it to 24-7. Garcia found Owens for the 65-yard strike in the fourth quarter to cut it to 24-14. The Rams answered with the third Faulk touchdown and a Bruce 56-yard score to make it 41-14. Garcia closed with two late touchdowns to make it 41-24.
The turning point
The second-quarter Faulk one-yarder. With the 49ers down 10-7 in the second quarter and the offense seventy seconds away from a halftime tie, the Rams converted a third-and-one on the goal line to push the lead to two scores. The defensive stop the visitors needed before the half never came.
By the numbers
Garcia 21-of-34 for 290, three touchdowns and two picks. Owens 6 catches for 108 and a touchdown with a 65-yarder; his first 100-yard game of the year. Garner 87 on 15 carries (5.8 yards a carry). On the other side Warner went for 394 and two scores; Faulk had three touchdowns and 134 on the ground, the kind of full-spectrum afternoon that wins offensive player of the week most weeks. Bruce posted 188 receiving on 8 catches.
Personnel watch
| Player | C/A | Yds | TD | Int | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SFO | |||||
| Jeff Garcia | 21/34 | 290 | 3 | 2 | |
| STL | |||||
| Kurt Warner | 23/34 | 394 | 2 | 2 | |
| Player | Att | Yds | TD | Long |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SFO | ||||
| Charlie Garner | 15 | 87 | 0 | 22 |
| Jeff Garcia | 2 | 12 | 0 | 13 |
| Fred Beasley | 3 | 10 | 0 | 5 |
| Terry Jackson | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| STL | ||||
| Marshall Faulk | 25 | 134 | 3 | 19 |
| Az-Zahir Hakim | 1 | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| Robert Holcombe | 1 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| Kurt Warner | 1 | -1 | 0 | -1 |
| Player | Rec | Yds | TD | Long |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SFO | ||||
| Terrell Owens | 6 | 108 | 1 | 32 |
| Fred Beasley | 4 | 47 | 1 | 29 |
| Jerry Rice #80 | 3 | 44 | 0 | 23 |
| Charlie Garner | 5 | 40 | 1 | 20 |
| Tai Streets | 1 | 38 | 0 | 38 |
| Greg Clark | 2 | 13 | 0 | 8 |
| STL | ||||
| Isaac Bruce | 8 | 188 | 1 | 78 |
| Torry Holt | 4 | 94 | 0 | 49 |
| Marshall Faulk | 7 | 65 | 0 | 19 |
| Az-Zahir Hakim | 2 | 18 | 0 | 15 |
| Tony Horne | 1 | 18 | 1 | 18 |
| Roland Williams | 1 | 11 | 0 | 11 |
Find or start the canonical thread for this game on r/49ers. The thread title is deterministic so anyone running this Rewatch lands on the same place.
Find the thread Start the threadCanonical title: [Rewatch Party] 2000 W3 - 49ers at St. Louis Rams - Game Thread
