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Saints running back Alvin Kamara had the ball pinned against the back of his helmet, but this was never going to be a David-Tyree-in-the-Super-Bowl impression.
Spencer Rattler’s quick-hitter to the right flat hit Kamara on the back shoulder, and the five-time Pro Bowler did everything in his power to haul in a pass that would have set the Saints up inside the 49ers’ 30-yard line Sunday.
With San Francisco clinging to a 19-14 lead and New Orleans driving late in the third quarter, the 49ers’ defense needed more than just a stop.
It needed a play that could turn the tide of the game.
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Enter Fred Warner.
The All-Pro middle linebacker swarmed to the flat, preparing to aid safety Ji’Ayir Brown’s effort to prevent Kamara from reaching the first down marker.
But when Warner’s eyes zeroed in on the football, he changed plans. He took his right fist and punched the ball away from Kamara, then fell on the ground, where he secured the 49ers’ only takeaway of the afternoon.
Seven plays later, 49ers quarterback Mac Jones hit Jauan Jennings in stride on a crossing route, and the veteran receiver raced in for a 42-yard touchdown.
The 49ers’ defense stepped up with a pair of stops in the final five minutes, including one that included a critical third-down sack from Nick Bosa and another that featured Bryce Huff’s game-sealing strip sack of Rattler on fourth down with less than a minute to play.
Bosa, Huff, and the 49ers’ ability to generate a late pass-rush provided a stark contrast from the team’s inability to close out games in 2024. If the defensive line continues reversing ugly trends from last season, it will have a huge effect on the team’s trajectory this year.
It’s all made possible, of course, because the 49ers have an all-world talent in the middle of the field.
Since the 49ers made Warner a third-round draft pick out of BYU in 2018, he has started all 117 games the team has played. Warner fractured a bone in his ankle in Week 4 of last season but took the field every week anyway, even as playoff hopes slipped away.
The ironman ranks among the sport’s most consistent players, racking up at least 118 tackles in each of his previous seven NFL seasons. He’s good for at least a few takeaways each season, and his elite pass coverage skills against running backs, tight ends, and receivers crossing the middle of the field sets up pass rushers like Bosa to cash in on more sacks when a quarterback’s safety valve is blanketed.
Warner’s forced fumble Sunday matched the career total and franchise record set by 49ers legend Patrick Willis (16), and he has already racked up more interceptions (10) than the Hall of Famer (eight), who retired after 112 career games.
In a few weeks, Warner (916) will pass Willis (950) in total tackles, and though he only has half as many sacks (10 to 20.5), he’s on a path to playing significantly longer while paving a road to Canton, Ohio that’s just as smooth.
On a roster filled with stars who are sometimes in and out of the lineup, Warner is the 49ers’ constant. Every down and every week, eight years running.