49ers 20, Rams 13

ST. LOUIS (AP) The St. Louis Rams broke another team's heart for a change.<br/><br/>Marc Bulger threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to Kevin Curtis with 27 seconds to go for a 20-17 victory over the San

Sunday, November 26th 2006, 3:24 pm

By: News On 6

ST. LOUIS (AP) The St. Louis Rams broke another team's heart for a change.

Marc Bulger threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to Kevin Curtis with 27 seconds to go for a 20-17 victory over the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday, snapping a 5-game skid that included two leads lost in the final minute.

Stymied much of the 2nd half, Bulger led a 12-play, 80-yard drive for the winning score.

Frank Gore had 134 yards on 21 carries for the 49ers, who missed a chance to keep the pressure on 1st-place Seattle in the NFC West. San Francisco has not been above .500 this late in the season since 2002.

Both of St. Louis' last-minute losses during the slump came against the Seahawks. This time, safety Oshiomogo Atogwe intercepted a desperation pass by Alex Smith and ran out the clock.

The Rams (5-6) responded after the 49ers (5-6) punished the NFL's weakest run defense to take a 17-13 lead. San Francisco chewed up more than 7 minutes on a 13-play, 75-yard march capped by Joe Nedney's 24-yard field goal with 3:54 to go. Only one play during that drive was a pass, with Gore, Maurice Hicks and Michael Robinson all keeping the chains moving on the ground.

Bulger was 9-9 for 66 yards during the final drive.

Gore, who has four 100-yard games in the last five weeks, had 40 yards on 5 carries in the drive. He also produced the 49ers' lone highlight of the 1st half, a 12-yard scoring run in which he powered through Atogwe at the 2.