The NFC Championship Game between the 49ers and Eagles was supposed to be a slugfest, with two hard-hitting defenses and run-heavy offenses meeting for a trip to the Super Bowl.
However, after an injury to Brock Purdy on the second drive of the game (following a controversial Eagles TD on their opening drive), the Niners were simply overmatched and couldn’t produce anything offensively with Josh Johnson under center. Johnson eventually left in the third quarter with a head injury, and Purdy returned but couldn’t throw the ball, resulting in a painful 20-plus minutes of football where the outcome was never in doubt, but both teams had to keep playing.
Eventually, the frustrations of the situation crept in for the 49ers and some tensions that had been building erupted into a brawl. Deebo Samuel and K’Von Wallace got locked up after a third down run in the fourth quarter and when the two wouldn’t let go, despite players and refs trying to separate them, Trent Williams took matters into his own hands, absolutely slamming Wallace to the turf.
Trent Williams gets first dibs on a shower pic.twitter.com/62TEuF2CbV
— CJ Fogler account may or may not be notable (@cjzero) January 29, 2023
Wallace popped up and tried to throw some punches, as did some others, and the Niners bench ran onto the field, but luckily nothing further happened to escalate things any more in an already decided game. Williams and Wallace were both ejected from the game, with Wallace certainly getting the worst of the entire interaction, and it was a somewhat unsurprising end to a game where the Niners played most of the second half with little hope.
