SANTA CLARA–Folks at the NFL league offices are jumping for joy.
What was supposed to be yet another moribund Thursday night matchup pitting the rebuilding 49ers against a Los Angeles Rams franchise that can’t sell tickets turned into a 41-39 back-and-forth affair that was reminiscent of a Big 12 shootout or a “Pac-12 After Dark” special worth watching until the final moment.
Forget the fact that both defenses were gassed in an entertaining second half, the 49ers’ scrap with the Rams made a national television audience forget that just seven days ago, it witnessed a 13-9 snoozer saved only by the legs of Texas’ quarterback Deshaun Watson.
Thursday night’s showdown featured every element the league feared it wouldn’t. The Rams’ offense fired on all cylinders, the 49ers nearly pulled off a miracle comeback, a pair of young first-time head coaches offered a compelling storyline and two division rivals that combined for six wins a season ago gave east coast NFL fans a reason to stay up late.
Put simply, the Rams’ victory over the 49ers was Thursday Night Football at its best, all while masking the fact that these midweek bloodbaths are the sport at its very worst.
Yes, second-year Los Angeles quarterback Jared Goff channeled his days as Cal’s starting quarterback, completing 22-of-28 attempts for 292 yards and three touchdowns. But who exactly did he do it against? Reuben Foster and Eric Reid were out with injuries for the 49ers and as the game wore on, they weren’t the only players San Francisco missed.
Reid’s replacement, Jaquiski Tartt, suffered a concussion. Foster’s replacement, Brock Croyle, suffered a concussion. Defensive lineman Tank Carradine, one of the 49ers’ most effective run stuffers, left the locker room on Thursday night in a walking boot. By the end of the game, the 49ers had 42 healthy players on their sideline, and that included safety Jimmie Ward and Sam linebacker Eli Harold, who were both listed as questionable for Thursday’s contest. Eighth-year veteran NaVorro Bowman was a step or two too slow on Thursday night, but he made it through the game unscathed.
That doesn’t make it right.
“I think it had a huge effect on my body, personally,” Bowman said. “You know, I have done everything to get my body as close to ready for this game as possible but you know, we signed up for this and the schedule says we have to play these games. There’s no way I felt the way I felt the way on Sunday today.”
Give credit to Goff, though, because by the end of the game, he practically had to phone up his old friends from Berkeley and hire a new receiving corps. Goff’s primary target, Sammy Watkins? He was evaluated for a concussion. Another Rams’ starting receiver Tavon Austin also went down. He was also evaluated for a concussion.
This wasn’t football, this was survival of the fittest.
If the league insists on playing on Thursday nights –which it shouldn’t–it needs to concede that 46 active players is not enough. At least give teams access to their entire 53-man roster.
After the game, 49ers’ head coach Kyle Shanahan was extremely diplomatic about the injuries his team dealt with during Thursday’s contest. Of course, Shanahan defers to coordinator Robert Saleh on defense, so he wasn’t as caught up with a depleted unit in the heat of the moment. All he had to deal with was running back Carlos Hyde’s hip injury, wide receiver Pierre Garcon taking himself out after a 59-yard reception left him calling for a sub, and an injury to fullback Kyle Juszcyzyk. He had a concussion.
“I don’t know, I mean I’m sure if we keep doing this for 20 more years, we could have the right stats that could show that,” Shanahan said, when asked if Thursday games produce more injuries. “But I don’t know what the reasons are. We lost a lot of guys during the second half, but it’s a physical game and we lost a lot of guys on Sundays also. So I can’t tell you why that is.”
The timing of the 49ers battle with the Rams was ironic, and for those that follow the sport on a deeper level, it was cruel. Hours before kickoff on Thursday night, researchers reportedly determined that the brain damage suffered by former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez led to the most severe case of CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy) they’ve ever seen in someone Hernandez’s age.
In April, Hernandez committed suicide while serving a life sentence for murder.
There are real life ramifications for what transpired on Thursday night. At least five players were evaluated for concussions, and while there’s no direct correlation between playing on a short week of rest and suffering a head injury, it’s not a recipe that’s going to make a violent game safer any time soon.
Players didn’t sign up for the safest game on the planet. They’re risking their livelihood every time the step on the field, and a great deal of these athletes are candid when asked about the long-term effects of playing this sport. But to witness Thursday night’s game and not at least acknowledge the brutality is to bow at the throne the NFL, commissioner Roger Goodell and the league’s owners sit atop.
After the game, Rams’ wide receiver Robert Woods addressed the chaos that ensued in a fourth quarter that nearly featured a miracle 49ers’ comeback.
“It’s the NFL and Thursday night,” Woods said. “The colors are bright. It’s an exciting game and things happen. As long as we finish the game and get a win, that’s all that matters.”
The key phrase in Woods’ response is not “get a win.” It’s “finish the game.”
Sadly, as long as Thursday night games remain a staple of the NFL calendar, the quality of football, and the quality of players’ lives will be sacrificed all in the name of rich people making more money. It’s pathetic. And worse, it’s barbaric.