49ers Tried To Stop Rams WR Puka Nacua From Breaking Rookie Records

The San Francisco 49ers weren't playing for much against the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday, but they wanted to keep rookie receiver Puka Nacua from making history.

Sunday's game between the Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers didn't mean much for either team, as the former had already clinched a playoff spot while the latter locked up the top seed in the NFC.

However, the 49ers came into the game with one goal in mind: stop Rams receiver Puka Nacua from breaking the rookie receiving record. The Rams were resting most of their stars in preparation for the playoffs, save for Nacua, who was on the verge of breaking the records for most receptions and receiving yards by a rookie.

Nacua of course did break the records, finishing his outstanding rookie campaign with 105 receptions for 1,486 yards. After he did, coach Sean McVay immediately pulled him out of the game.

Puka Nacua / Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports

The main reason the 49ers wanted to stop Nacua was to keep him in the game as long as possible. Not to try and injure him, but to fatigue him for the upcoming playoffs.

“Oh yeah. Our goal was to just keep him going the whole game," 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan told reporters. "But we knew it was going to be tough. We knew he only needed one more catch and one more yard, but we tried our hardest.”

Shanahan believes he's far from the only coach who would do something like this, which is partially what pushed him to make that call.

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“No, I’d expect it,” Shanahan said. “That’s why we’d throw to someone else open. I was hoping they were going to do that, but I think they wanted to get him out pretty fast. I’m just glad he had to come in the third. It was a small victory.”

Not only did Nacua break the records, but the Rams won 21-20 to clinch the No. 6 seed in the NFC. The loss may not have meant much to the 49ers, but it was nice for the Rams to beat their bitter rivals in the regular season for the first time since 2018.