Before the season started, a Week 10 game looked like just another win in the San Francisco 49ers’ return to the top of the NFC West. Things haven’t quite gone as planned.
It is the St. Louis Rams who will be attempting to make a move in the division when they visit the 49ers on Sunday.
San Francisco (2-6) was the popular preseason pick to take the NFL’s weakest division after finishing 2009 with a .500 record for the first time since 2002. Kurt Warner’s retirement brought the Arizona Cardinals back to the pack and both Seattle and St. Louis appeared to be at the beginning of a long rebuilding process.
But the promise showed at the end of last season failed to carry over to the beginning of 2010 for the 49ers, who dropped their first five games and could not seem to find any rhythm to the offense with Alex Smith at quarterback.
The Rams (4-4), meanwhile, have gotten a surprisingly strong effort out of No. 1 overall pick Sam Bradford at quarterback and have seen their defense mature quickly, giving the team a chance to win the NFC West and earn a trip to the playoffs.
St. Louis has already won more games than it did in the previous two seasons combined but still hasn’t managed to earn a road win this season.
That hasn’t kept them off the top of the West, where they are tied with the Seahawks. The Rams hold the tiebreaker right now, having defeated Seattle in October. But there is still a long way to go and picking up a road win would be a good way to go.
Prior to the bye week, St. Louis evened its record with a 20-10 victory over the Carolina Panthers, getting two touchdown passes from Bradford while forcing four turnovers. Bradford has not thrown an interception in any of the last three games while completing 61.5 percent of his passes in that span.
Amazingly, San Francisco is only two games out in the division in last place and still has a shot if it can keep up the form that has secured two wins in the last three games.
Coach Mike Singletary made a switch at quarterback two weeks ago in London, sitting Alex Smith with an ailing shoulder and giving Troy Smith the start against the Denver Broncos.
Troy Smith responded with 196 passing yards and a touchdown and added a rushing score. Smith tied it at 10-10 with 11:51 left in the game and then gave the 49ers the lead with 7:23 remaining when he found Michael Crabtree with a 28-yard touchdown pass.
Singletary still hasn’t named a starter for Sunday’s game, but Troy Smith has been taking most of the first-team reps in practice this week.
San Francisco swept two meetings between the teams last season by a combined 63-6 score.