Singletary gets first coaching victory as Niners rout Rams

The lowly St. Louis Rams were just the ticket for the 49ers, as San Francisco won going away to give Mike Singletary his first win as a head coach by a 35-16 score.  In the process, the Niners erratic offense feasted on a porous Seattle defense for a scoring outburst not seen since the glory days of Joe Montana.

The game started innocently enough, as the Niners took a 7-0 lead midway through the first quarter on Frank Gore’s 5 yard TD run.  St. Louis cut the deficit to 7-3 early in the second quarter on Josh Brown’s 24 yard field goal.  At this point the game looked like a typical 49ers contest where they’d struggle life and death for every point.  That changed quickly, as the offensive floodgates burst open for San Francisco.

The onslaught began a couple of minutes later on a short TD pass from Shaun Hill to Vernon Davis.  That was followed by another Frank Gore rushing TD, this one from a yard out at the 7:50 mark.  QB Hill ran one in himself from the one with 3:32 remaining passed for another near the end of the quarter—this one two yards to Bryant Johnson that closed the book on a 35 point first half outburst.  It was only the second time in team history that the Niners had scored four offensive TDs in one quarter—the previous instance occurred in 1989 with Joe Montana under center.  It was also the first time the Niners had scored 35 points in the first half since 1992.  Granted, they were helped along by three Mark Bulger turnovers but once they got the ball they executed, albeit against the flimsy Rams defense.

Hill suggested that the outburst had given the team a much needed dose of confidence:

"Don't be surprised when things like that happen. We do have the ability to play like that. You can't be surprised or caught off-guard by it. ... We have to enjoy this win. It's been a long time since we've had this feeling, but we can't approach tomorrow any differently than if we had lost."

An emotional Mike Singletary added his thoughts on his first victory as an NFL head coach:

"I'm very humbled by it. I just thought about them (his parents), and if they could see that. I'm very thankful and very proud, more so for the guys than for myself, because they deserve it."

St. Louis, meanwhile, is a team short on “moral victories” and continues playing out the string next week at home when the Chicago Bears come to town.  They’ll host the Miami Dolphins the following Sunday before traveling to Arizona for a divisional game against the Cards on 12/7.

The 49ers will need all of the newfound confidence they can get over the next three weeks, which presents a brutal scheduling spot that begins with a trip to Dallas next Sunday.  They’ll head to Buffalo on 11/30 before returning home to entertain the NY Jets on 12/7.