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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

49ers, Rams play to NFL’s first tie since 2008

Associated Press

SAN FRANCISCO – The St. Louis Rams and San Francisco 49ers played the NFL’s first tie game in four years as kickers from both teams missed overtime field goals Sunday.

Greg Zuerlein kicked a 53-yarder, but the Rams were penalized 5 yards for delay of game. He tried again from 58 as coach Jeff Fisher played for the win, and missed wide right with 2:42 left in OT.

San Francisco’s David Akers missed wide left on a 41-yard attempt that could have sealed it for the NFC West-leading 49ers (6-2-1), who lost quarterback Alex Smith to a first-half concussion.

Akers booted a tying 33-yarder with 3 seconds left in regulation after Sam Bradford threw a 2-yard touchdown pass to Austin Pettis with 1:09 remaining.

San Francisco linebacker Patrick Willis was flagged for holding Lance Kendricks on third down of St. Louis’ final drive, a costly mistake that kept his team from getting one last chance.

On the first play of OT, Bradford completed an 80-yard pass to Danny Amendola that took St. Louis (3-5-1) to the 2, but the play was called back for an illegal formation.

The last tie was between Philadelphia and Cincinnati, 13-13 in 2008.

Frank Gore ran for a 20-yard touchdown with 8:23 to go in regulation just 17 seconds after backup quarterback Colin Kaepernick scurried 7 yards for a score. Kaepernick finished 11 for 17 for 117 yards and also had eight carries for 66 yards, calmly leading the Niners after it took several series to find his groove.

Gore ran for 97 yards, while Michael Crabtree made five catches for 70 yards and a 14-yard touchdown from Smith before he left the game.

Amendola returned for the Rams following a three-game absence with a shoulder injury to make 11 catches for 102 yards. Bradford went 26 for 39 for 275 yards and two touchdowns.

Smith took a hard hit on the back of the neck from linebacker Jo-Lonn Dunbar after a scramble with 1:10 left in the first quarter.

Rams 24, 49ers 24

St. Louis 14 0 3 7 0 24
San Francisco 0 7 0 17 0 24

StL—Quick 36 pass from Bradford (Zuerlein kick)

StL—Jackson 7 run (Zuerlein kick)

SF—Crabtree 14 pass from Ale.Smith (Akers kick)

StL—FG Zuerlein 27

SF—Kaepernick 7 run (Akers kick)

SF—Gore 20 run (Akers kick)

StL—Pettis 2 pass from Bradford (Zuerlein kick)

SF—FG Akers 33

A—69,732.

StL SF
First downs 27 25
Total Net Yards 458 341
Rushes-yards 37-159 34-183
Passing 299 158
Punt Returns 3-14 2-23
Kickoff Returns 5-84 5-118
Interceptions Ret. 0-0 0-0
Comp-Att-Int 28-41-0 18-25-0
Sacked-Yrds Lost 2-16 5-31
Punts 4-36.8 6-41.8
Fumbles-Lost 2-1 4-0
Penalties-Yards 13-85 7-66
Time of Poss. 40:45 34:15

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING—St. Louis, Jackson 29-101, D.Richardson 7-58, Bradford 1-0. San Francisco, Gore 21-97, Kaepernick 8-66, Hunter 3-15, Ale.Smith 2-5.

PASSING—St. Louis, Bradford 26-39-0-275, Hekker 2-2-0-40. San Francisco, Kaepernick 11-17-0-117, Ale.Smith 7-8-0-72.

RECEIVING—St. Louis, Amendola 11-102, Kendricks 3-48, Gibson 3-47, Pettis 3-15, Jackson 2-26, St.Smith 2-11, Quick 1-36, McLeod 1-21, Pead 1-9, D.Richardson 1-0. San Francisco, Crabtree 5-70, V.Davis 4-30, Gore 3-18, K.Williams 2-24, Moss 2-19, Manningham 1-20, Hunter 1-8.

MISSED FIELD GOALS—St. Louis, Zuerlein 58 (WR). San Francisco, Akers 41 (WL).