Daily Madden: The 49ers' 'Lucky' Tie
SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) - The heavily-favored San Francisco 49ers battled the St. Louis Rams to a 24-24 tie at Candlestick Park Sunday, the first NFL game without a winner in four years. "I think the 49ers were lucky to get a tie," John Madden told the KCBS morning crew.
In the overtime period, the Rams had a game-wining field goal and an 80-yard pass play called back on penalties. "There were a lot of mistakes, and a lot of penalties, and just some foul-ups that shouldn't have been," said Madden. "But having said that, it was a hard-fought game, a well-coached game I think, (with) elements of surprise. The Rams kind of played like they were really the underdogs and were going to do anything they could to stay in the game."
49ers quarterback Alex Smith was knocked out of the game with a concussion in the second quarter and was replaced by Colin Kaepernick. "I thought that Kaepernick did well," Madden said. "The thing that you have to realize is these back-up quarterbacks get no snaps with the offense in practice... He has to be mentally prepared, but he hasn't gone through the reps."
"And the one thing about Kaepernick -- if he gets in trouble he can use his legs, and he's a good runner, and he has good speed. They have to watch out though, because he's the only quarterback they have left."
Listen to the John Madden segment live weekday mornings at 8:15 on KCBS All News 740 AM/106.9 FM. And catch John's extra report at 9:15 a.m. Mondays and Fridays during the NFL season.
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