San Francisco 49ers lose on controversial call on Colin Kaepernick fumble

The scene at the end of the San Francisco 49ers' loss to the St. Louis Rams was of mass confusion. And we'll see down the road if a controversial call will cost the 49ers a playoff spot.

The 49ers had the ball at the 1-yard line with nine seconds left, trailing 13-10. With a timeout remaining, the 49ers could still run the ball, and did. Colin Kaepernick tried a quarterback sneak up the middle. There was a pile of bodies and nobody knew quite what happened until the Rams started celebrating. Kaepernick fumbled, and the Rams had it.

The play was obviously going to be reviewed, but what did that show? There was practically no way to tell what exactly happened because it was your typical quarterback sneak at the goal line. Everything was obscured by bodies in the pile. Did Kaepernick break the plane of the goal line before fumbling? Was he down first? It was nearly impossible to see. As such, the play stood and the 49ers had a loss that drops them to a really disappointing 4-4. In a competitive NFC, that loss could end up keeping San Francisco out of the playoffs.

The disputed sneak came two plays after another controversial call (see video above). Michael Crabtree caught a ball at the goal line, and it appeared he might have been over the goal line at the moment he caught it, then his momentum carried him out of the end zone. He would have had an easy touchdown if Kaepernick's throw wasn't 2 feet too low, but as it was, the call stood and he was ruled down at the 1-yard line.

The 49ers probably deserved to lose after another uninspiring performance, this time at home against a bad Rams team. But their fans will likely argue that a win was taken away from them on a bad call.

- - - - - - -

Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdowncorner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @YahooSchwab