SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) -In no way does 49ers coach Mike Singletary consider Sunday’s game at St. Louis a gimmee, even if San Francisco routed the struggling Rams 35-0 in the teams’ first meeting nearly three months ago.
Yet the Niners should feel good about their chances against St. Louis – and a win could do much for San Francisco (7-8) as it heads into the offseason after yet another missed trip to the playoffs. A victory would end a franchise-worst stretch of six straight losing seasons and snap a six-game road losing streak since the team won its season opener on Sept. 13.
“The biggest thing is winning, however we’ve got to do it,” linebacker Patrick Willis said Monday. “We’ve got to get it done. We want to finish 8-8, which would be .500. That would be the first time our team has done that in a while, so that would be big. Also, too, just going into the offseason with a win always helps.”
tary’s first full season as head coach.
Singletary had big hopes of reaching the playoffs following a promising 3-1 start. Even he knows that would have been one quick turnaround for this franchise, but Singletary is all about winning and doing what it takes during the week to make that happen on Sunday.
In the coach’s mind, the 49ers showed a lot of good things that they can build upon.
“I would like to end that way because we started that way,” Singletary said of winning on the road. “We were on the road against Arizona to start the season. We’re on the road at the end. It would be a great way to close it out. We just have to be focused this week and I want to make sure that guys understand that we have to go earn 8-8.”
The 49ers sure would like to take better advantage of their offensive chances. Missed opportunities have been their downfall away from Candlestick Park, including a stretch of five consecutive road losses that were decided by a total of 19 points.
San Francisco forced six turnovers during Sunday’s 20-6 home win over the Detroit Lions, but only managed one field goal to show for all that hard work on defense. Making those turnovers count for something will be important Sunday.
e on our offense. … It wasn’t a masterpiece offensively but we made the plays we needed to make. I would just say it wasn’t our best performance.”
Tight end Vernon Davis, who is counting on hearing his name among the Pro Bowl picks come Tuesday’s announcement, would certainly like to do his part. Davis has 12 touchdown catches this season and needs one more to tie Antonio Gates’ NFL record for tight ends.
“It would mean a lot to get another one,” he said.
Against St. Louis, it seems he will get his chances, though quarterback Alex Smith doesn’t plan to force the matter.
The Rams (1-14) have lost seven straight games since their lone victory of the season at Detroit on Nov. 1. They have scored more than 17 points in only one game during the losing streak and have been held to 13 or fewer points in five of those contests.
San Francisco knows all that stuff means little if they don’t come to play. It’s only been one costly snap here or there that has hurt this team on the road all year.
“It would be big for us,” receiver Josh Morgan said of winning out. “You want to finish strong. You just want to execute all across the board. It would be tremendous for us to win this last game.”
NOTES: RG Chilo Rachal was scheduled for an MRI exam on his strained left knee. Singletary wasn’t sure what his status would be for Sunday’s game. … LG Joe Staley (bruised right knee) was listed as day-to-day. … K Joe Nedney won’t play as he recovers from a hamstring injury that also kept him out against the Lions.
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