Niners chomping at the bit to knock off downtrodden Rams

SAN FRANCISCO -- The Rams are 0-4. Kurt Warner is out for two months with a broken finger. The NFL's closest thing to a dynasty is on the edge of disaster.

And the San Francisco 49ers would love to give them another push.

After spending more than nine months preparing for today's game on Candlestick Point, the 49ers aren't sure how to react to the Rams' reduction to mere mortals.

St. Louis has loomed for three years now as the NFC West bully, with all the success and style San Francisco once possessed. And the Rams' winless start takes a bit of the hype away from the first meeting of archrivals with high expectations for the season.

Mike Rumph, the 49ers' rookie defensive back, was drafted largely to help San Francisco deal with the Rams' fleet-footed receivers.

"From the first day I came in here, everybody was all over me, saying, "We've got to beat the Rams. We've got to beat the Rams,'" Rumph said. "I remember saying, 'What about all the other teams?' Then you watch the Rams and you see how everybody around here feels about them, and you know why it's a big deal."

San Francisco rebuilt its team over the past three seasons with the express intent of reclaiming the division from the Rams, who have beaten the Niners six straight times while reaching the Super Bowl twice in the past three years.

The 49ers had a 17-game winning streak against their oldest rivals before St. Louis broke through in 1999. Since then, St. Louis has scored 197 points in six wins over San Francisco -- and the Niners have grown more frustrated with each loss.

In fact, there's almost a sense of disappointment in San Francisco about the Rams' downfall, along with an uneasiness that's hard to shake. Though Warner is out, St. Louis still has Marshall Faulk and the high-powered schemes of coach Mike Martz. But San Francisco (2-1) is suddenly the favorite, with even more to lose from a defeat than the reeling Rams.

"Certainly, they have a different record than we anticipated," 49ers coach Steve Mariucci said. "They've run into some close games, some good teams, some injuries, those sorts of things. ... It's an important game because it's a divisional game for us. We have to find a way to win back the division. We haven't done that in a while.

"Nobody's way out in front, and nobody's out of it. We have to respect the Rams and what they've accomplished -- the players they have left."

The Rams are off to their worst start since 1963, and that's saying something for a franchise that endured nine straight losing seasons before Martz, Warner, Faulk and Dick Vermeil turned things around in 1999.

The offense has been turned over to career backup Jamie Martin, and Martz is cautiously optimistic the change of pace will resuscitate the Rams' once-dominant attack. Martz hand-picked Martin as Warner's backup.

"You don't have to think too much about that decision with all the talent that's here," said Martin, who's made one previous start in 10 NFL seasons.

While St. Louis' offense has struggled -- particularly the running game, ranked 28th in the league -- the defense isn't much better. Opponents are completing more than 73 percent of their passes against a secondary that's allowed 215 yards per game.