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.
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 was playing with fire, especially with the way the NFL protects quarterbacks these days.
The Rams ultimately pulled off a 20-17 win after Jimmy Garoppolo threw a late interception. Warner led off his press conference with an apology for Stafford.
"You guys have watched me for a long time," Warner told reporters, "I never do anything with malicious intent. I watched the video. It looks bad. There's a lot things going on after the play. I was in pursuit of Jimmie and he was in my way and I made the hit. Obviously, looking back on it, I feel bad about it. You guys know that's not the type of player I am. So, wanted to apologize for that."
Warner added that he "didn't get to see" Stafford on the field after the game.
Related
