The San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Rams are probably sick of another at this point. Sunday’s NFC Championship marked the third meeting between these two NFC West foes and second in four weeks.
The Niners made a key momentum-shifting play in the first quarter, when Jimmie Ward picked off a pass in the end zone after it was tipped by nickel back K’Waun Williams in tight coverage on Rams receiver Cooper Kupp. As Ward traversed back down the field for a 23-yard return, 49ers linebacker Fred Warner leveled Rams quarterback Matt Stafford with what looked to be a helmet-to-helmet hit.
No flag was called on the play on Warner, who holds a good reputation as a hardworking tackler. But the play definitely looked dirty and like it warranted a whistle, so the 49ers dodged a bullet here.
Stafford appealed to the refs by pointing at his head after the play, but to no avail. It’s like in WWE – if the refs didn’t see it, it didn’t happen.
Stafford didn’t appear to be anywhere close to the action on the play, so it’s easy to take this one as a cheap shot by Warner. He got away with it, but is playing with fire, especially with the way the NFL protects quarterbacks these days.
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