NFL Fans Baffled as Ravens’ Lamar Jackson Tripped by Official During Safety vs. 49ers

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The San Francisco 49ers had an extra defender on the field for a play during the first quarter of Monday night’s matchup against the Baltimore Ravens—well, sort of.

With 10:24 remaining in the first quarter, Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson dropped back to pass and was under pressure immediately, so he retreated all the way to the end zone and took an intentional grounding safety after he tripped over an official who had fallen.

The safety gave the 49ers an early 2-0 lead and Jake Moody tacked on a field goal on the team’s next drive to put San Francisco up 5-0.

It marks one of the weirdest plays of the 2023 NFL season, and while some blamed Jackson for retreating too far, others were quick to blame the official for getting in the way of the action:

Both the Ravens and 49ers have already locked up playoff spots, but they’re still fighting for the No. 1 seed in their respective conferences, hence why there was plenty of frustration on the Baltimore side of things after the play.

Whichever team wins Monday’s matchup will improve to 12-3 and position themselves to secure a first-round bye.