ST. LOUIS — Greg Zuerlein's first game-winning field goal brought a mixture of excitement and relief for the rookie kicker.

"The biggest thing is that we won the game," Zuerlein said of his 54-yard field goal with 26 seconds left in overtime in the St. Louis Rams' 16-13 win over the San Francisco 49ers. "Personally, it feels good just to make a game-winner. I've had some opportunities before, and didn't convert on them."

Zuerlein was talking about his miss of a 58-yarder after a 5-yard delay of game penalty pushed him back five yards and negated his first attempt in overtime of the Rams' last meeting against the 49ers, which ended in a 24-24 tie.

This time, Zuerlein was on the mark.

"I was pretty relieved," Zuerlein said. "Relief and excitement at the same time. It's a mixture of kind of everything."

Asked how his teammates reacted to the kick, Zuerlein said, "I don't know. I was looking at (holder) Johnny (Hekker). I normally just give him a high-five or a low-five. He was screaming and then some other people hit me, and I blacked out."

Rams left tackle Rodger Saffold said Zuerlein's miss the last time against the 49ers make the rookie determined to do better.

"There's not much you can say about 'Legatron,"' Saffold said. "He does a great job. One thing I saw after he missed that field goal in San Francisco when we were there, he was just determined from that point on.

"He's really tried to focus on what he's doing, and he's trusting the line he has in front of him. You can't ask for anything better than that because he was focused, probably more focused than anybody on the field that last play."

Zuerlein's teammates were confident that he would make the field goal.

"Money," Rams quarterback Sam Bradford said of what he was thinking when Zuerlein lined up to kick. "I think this entire team has all the confidence in the world in Greg. We see him make them every day in practice. It's just kind of routine for him. I think we all expected him to make it."

Zuerlein now is 21 of 27 on field goals this season. He's 7-for-11 from 50 yards and longer.

"He's awesome," Rams defensive end Chris Long said. "If you're going to be on a team that plays good defense and runs the football, a kicker is going to be important to you. If you're going to be in tight ballgames like Coach (Jeff) Fisher has laid the blue print for us to be in, the kicker is a big piece of that."

Long said he didn't watch Zuerlein's game-winning field goal.

"I was looking at the fans," Long said." Last game, I watched the kick and it didn't go through. This time, I watched the fans. I heard the kick. He kicked the you-know-what out of it."

Scrambling quarterbacks

It wasn't quite as impressive as San Francisco quarterback Colin Kaepernick's scrambling ability, but Bradford did show the ability to run with the football Sunday.

Kaepernick ran for 84 yards on nine carries, including a 50-yard scramble. Bradford ran for 31 yards on three carries, including two carries for 25 yards on the Rams' drive that led to a game-tying field goal on the final play of the fourth quarter.

"I think he did get out of the pocket for a long one," Bradford said of Kaepernick. "I'm not sure I have that kind of speed, but I was able to make a couple of plays with my feet today, and I'll look to continue to do that."

Amendola sits out

Wide receiver Danny Amendola was among the Rams' inactives for the game.

Amendola was listed as doubtful for the game because of a foot injury. He saw limited action last week in the Rams' 31-17 win over the Arizona Cardinals despite the injury.

"Just not quite ready," Fisher said of Amendola. "We'll just see how he is during the week."

Amendola is the Rams' leading receiver and Bradford's safety valve. He's caught 51 passes for 571 yards and two touchdowns this season.

Quick hits

Also inactive for the Rams were: Linebacker Mario Haggan (elbow), defensive tackle Matt Conrath, guard-tackle Chris Williams, tackle Joe Barksdale, running back Terrance Ganaway and quarterback Austin Davis.

Defensive end Robert Quinn (concussion), center Scott Wells (knee) and tackle Barry Richardson (knee) all were active for the Rams after being listed as questionable for the game.

With Haggan out, the Rams signed linebacker Sammy Brown from their practice squad and released safety Quinton Pointer.

* Former greats Jack Youngblood, Tom Mack, Rosey Grier and Eric Dickerson were among the players honored at halftime in celebration of the 75th anniversary of the Rams' franchise.

Of course, wide receiver Isaac Bruce received his old "Bruuuce" from the fans when he was introduced.

* There was a moment of silence before the National Anthem in memory of former St. Louis University basketball coach Rick Majerus, who died Saturday.

Contact reporter Steve Korte at skorte@bnd.com or 239-2522.