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Frerotte's Fumble Ends Rams' Hopes

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The Associated Press

Published: November 26, 2007

ST. LOUIS - Just 1 yard from the end zone, a win for the St. Louis Rams slipped through Gus Frerotte's fingers.

The backup quarterback fumbled the snap on fourth-and-goal from the Seattle 1 with 27 seconds left Sunday, allowing the Seahawks to hold on for a 24-19 victory.

Frerotte picked up the loose ball, but was tackled at the 5, ending a last-ditch scoring attempt and the Rams' modest two-game winning streak after an 0-8 start. The Seahawks have won six straight against St. Louis, and the Rams, dominant in recent seasons at home, are 0-5 at the Edward Jones Dome this season.

"We were fortunate today," Seattle coach Mike Holmgren said. "I don't think we played our best football."

Seattle (7-4) won its third straight by rallying for 17 unanswered second-half points after falling behind 19-7.

The Rams (2-9) had one last chance when Josh Brown missed a 52-yard field goal with 2:44 to go. Then, St. Louis took over at its own 42 and drove to the 4 with just more than a minute to play.

Frerotte, playing after starter Marc Bulger left with a concussion in the first quarter, missed a wide-open Isaac Bruce on first down, then threw a 2-yard pass to Drew Bennett. On third down, Steven Jackson ran to the 1, setting up the doomed final play.

Rams coach Scott Linehan said the fourth-down play was again designed to go to Jackson. Defensive Darryl Tapp said the Seahawks were ready.

"Who else was the ball going to go to but Jackson?" he asked. "That's who that whole offense is built on so we sort of knew it was going to him, but it worked out well for us today."

Frerotte was 20 of 32 for 161 yards and one interception.

StL-Safety, Morris tackled in end zone, 8:46.

StL-Jackson 53 run (Wilkins kick), 8:30.

Sea-Wilson 89 kickoff return (Brown kick), 8:14.

StL-Bruce 15 pass from Frerotte (Wilkins kick), :28.

Second Quarter

StL-FG Wilkins 23, 8:07.

Third Quarter

Sea-FG Brown 33, 9:36.

Sea-Branch 9 pass from Hasselbeck (Brown kick), 3:22.

Fourth Quarter

Sea-Weaver 5 run (Brown kick), 5:57.

A-65,423.

RUSHING-Seattle, Morris 16-79, Weaver 1-5, Hasselbeck 2-3. St. Louis, Jackson 23-90, Pittman 5-11, Frerotte 2-2, D.Hall 1-1.

PASSING-Seattle, Hasselbeck 21-38-1-249. St. Louis, Bulger 3-5-1-32, Frerotte 20-32-1-161.

RECEIVING-Seattle, Engram 7-70, Branch 5-92, Hackett 4-41, Pollard 2-18, Burleson 1-20, Morris 1-5, Heller 1-3. St. Louis, Bruce 6-63, Holt 5-54, Bennett 4-35, Jackson 3-15, McMichael 2-26, Leonard 2-0, D.Hall 1-0.

MISSED FIELD GOALS-Seattle, Brown 46 (WL), 52 (WR).

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