The Ugly
There really wasn’t much ugly to talk about on Sunday, until the final minutes of the game as the 49ers were trying to get back into the game. The Cardinals and 49ers provided the fourth brawl of the day in the NFL.
As 49ers quarterback C.J. Beathard took off running, he slid, albeit a little late, and was hit in the head by the arm of Cardinals safety Antoine Bethea. It touched off a small melee.
Bethea had no intent of hitting him that high but the slide took it there. By the book, the rule was enforced correctly, so we can’t complain that Bethea was wronged.
What we can do is argue what is a defender supposed to do in that situation? Either way, it set others off. It caused three ejections.
Defensive tackle Frostee Rucker threw a punch. Also ejected was linebacker Haason Reddick. It wasn’t clear what his role was in the fight? For the 49ers, running back Carlos Hyde was ejected.