Jimmie Ward committed a truly dumb penalty during the NFC Wild Card Playoff game between his San Francisco 49ers and the Seattle Seahawks on Saturday.
Ward’s 49ers had taken a 16-14 lead on a 46-yard Robbie Gould field goal with 13 seconds before halftime. At that point you figure those would have been the final points scored of the half. But that wasn’t the case.
The Seahawks got the ball after the kickoff and returned it to the 38. Geno Smith then took off running on the first play from scrimmage and gained 9 yards. That would have given the Seahawks time for one last play before the half, but Ward’s mistake screwed things up.
Ward nailed Smith with an illegal hit and was flagged for unnecessary roughness.
What was Jimmie Ward THINKING??? 😡 pic.twitter.com/v3lCTWAaWn
— Brian (@13yysports) January 14, 2023
The penalty gave Seattle the ball at the Niners’ 38. Jason Meyers was able to nail a 56-yard field goal as time expired in the first half to give the Seahawks a 17-16 lead.
Things started to go downhill quickly for Seattle in the second half, but that mistake by Ward gave the Seahawks three points they shouldn’t have had.
