San Francisco 49ers players have been issued some major fines over the past two weeks for hits that went uncalled during games.
Two weeks ago, Malik Mustapha was fined nearly $7,000 for an unnecessary roughness hit on the 49ers’ final defensive drive in their 32-29 win over the Seattle Seahawks. The hit came on an incompletion to Jaxon Smith-Njigba and went uncalled. At the time, the Seahawks were at midfield, trailing by three with a 1st & 10.
The play was incomplete, and the Seahawks couldn’t get any yards on their next three plays, resulting in a turnover on downs and a loss. Had they gotten the penalty, perhaps we would have seen a different outcome at the end of that game.
Then, this past week, Fred Warner was fined $65,673 for two separate unnecessary roughness plays: $17,911 for a hit on a defenseless player and $47,762 for use of the helmet. The first play saw a flag thrown and then picked up, with the broadcast saying in real time that it should’ve been a penalty. The second play, a hit on tight end Chig Okonkwo, went uncalled.
The Okonkwo play came with 7:12 left in the fourth quarter on 2nd & 8 on a short pass to the flat off play-action. The Commanders did end up picking up the first down on that drive and went all the way down the field on a 13-play, 61-yard drive that resulted in a turnover on downs.
This is the fourth time Warner has been fined this season, with the fines totaling over $100,000. Back in Week 3, he was fined $41.793 for two violations against Arizona Cardinals tight end Trey McBride, with one penalty being illegal use of the helmet and the other being a hip-drop tackle that went uncalled.
If Warner gets called twice more for hits on defenseless players, he could face a one-game suspension. Warner also has two penalties for use of the helmet this season.