In desperate need of a win after a blowout loss to the Kansas City Chiefs the previous week, the St. Louis Rams traveled to San Francisco for a Week 9 matchup.

The Rams entered the game extraordinarily shorthanded after losing key contributors like tackle Jake Long and receiver Brian Quick to season ending injuries against the Chiefs. But a dormant Rams defense finally came to life in the team's first appearance at Levi's Stadium. The Rams sacked San Francisco quarterback Colin Kaepernick eight times, including six in the first half.

Meanwhile, the Rams' offense continued to sputter as quarterback Austin Davis began showing more signs that he would struggle against the league's better defenses. So as San Francisco took over at its 12 with 3:11 to play, it seemed like the Rams would again come up short in a game that was there for the taking. It looked like that was true even more after the Niners methodically marched to the Rams' 5 with 46 seconds left.

A penalty and a pair of plays left the Niners short of the game-winning touchdown, which set up a third-and-goal at the 1 with nine seconds to go. Before the snap, Rams linebackers James Laurinaitis and Jo-Lonn Dunbar recognized that a Kaepernick sneak was likely coming. In earlier film study, Rams defensive coordinator Gregg Williams had identified a tendency of where the Niners like to run in short yardage and offered a different look upfront.

At the snap, Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald immediately got below his man and disrupted Kaepernick's attempted surge forward. As Kaepernick attempted to get his bearings, he lost the ball. Laurinaitis scooped it up and the Rams were able to kneel to end the game and steal the victory.

At face value, the win was no more important than any of the five others the Rams had on the season, but what it did was offer the defense a chance to see what it was truly capable of when it was clicking on all cylinders. Those eight sacks were more than the six the Rams had in their first seven games and started a run of defensive excellence that -- save for losses to San Diego and the New York Giants -- continued for the rest of the season.