Kyle Shanahan was hurting after the 49ers loss to the LA Rams in the NFC Championship, but said “It’s part of sports. It’s part of life. But I love this team…I wish I had another game with them.”
INGLEWOOD -- Football is a violent game, one Fred Warner plays at an elite level. The 49ers star has earned the reputation as a clean, hard-hitting linebacker who plays the game the right way. That's what made his hit Sunday on Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford raise eyebrows.
During the first quarter of the Rams' 20-17 NFC Championship Game win at SoFi Stadium, Stafford was picked off by 49ers safety Jimmie Ward in the end zone. While Ward was returning the interception, Warner delivered a bone-crushing hit to Stafford's back and head.
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After the heartbreaking loss, Warner expressed regret for the hit on Stafford.
“I wanted to address my hit on Stafford after Jimmie’s interception," Warner said. "You guys watched me for a long time and I never do anything out of malicious intent. I watched the video, and it looks bad. There was a lot of things going on after the play. I was in pursuit of Jimmy and he was just in my way and I made the hit. Looking back on it, I feel bad about it and you guys know that’s not the type of player I am, so I apologize for that.”
In the end, it was Stafford (337 yards, two touchdowns) and the Rams who got the last laugh.
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The Rams went 11-for-18 on third down and ran 76 plays, eventually wearing down a 49ers' defense that had been one of the best units in football over the last three months.
"That for sure wasn't us," Warner said of the 49ers' struggles on third down. "We needed to get off the field and it just wasn't going our way. We weren't executing as a unit. Who knows if that affected the second half. It was good that we held them to seven in the first half, given what it was. But we knew we had to close it out in the second half and we didn't"
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The 49ers led 17-7 with two minutes to play in the third quarter, and from that point on, everything went the Rams' way.
Stafford hit Cooper Kupp for an 11-yard touchdown to cut the lead to 17-14 at the start of the fourth quarter. The 49ers moved to midfield quickly on their next possession, but the drive stalled, Kyle Shanahan elected to punt on fourth-and-2 from plus territory and momentum shifted in the Rams' favor.
Over the final 10 minutes of the game, the 49ers' offense didn't register a positive play and accounted for minus-8 yards.
Warner and a gassed 49ers defense, which bent all day, cracked just enough in the fourth quarter, giving up 13 points as the Rams finally vanquished a Niners team that has owned them for three years.
Unfazed by Warner's hard hit and the pressure of the moment, Stafford did precisely what he was brought to LA to do: Be the difference-maker when the stakes are at their highest.