Safety Ward ends pick drought with 2 interceptions
Jimmie Ward is an experienced safety who thrives in various coverages and mentors his younger 49ers teammates. But 7½ seasons into his NFL career, he is seldom mentioned among the top players at his position.
The reason is simple: In a league that prizes highlightworthy plays, Ward delivers few takeaways. He made his 66th career start Monday night having gone 1,800 days without an interception.
By the end of the first quarter of the 49ers’ 31-10 win over the Rams at Levi’s Stadium, Ward had two. That matched his team’s season total coming into the game and equaled his career total through his previous 85 NFL games.
As Ward dived into the end zone late in the first quarter to complete a pick-6 that gave the 49ers an early two-touchdown lead, a half-dozen teammates celebrated around him.
“It felt great,” Ward said of finally having the ball in his hands. “I don’t even have many words to say about it. I guess I can enjoy it for like 24 hours, then on to the next week. We’ve got Jacksonville coming up.”
On the Rams’ first drive, he had capitalized on a miscommunication between quarterback Matthew Stafford and new receiver Odell Beckham Jr., snagging an interception at San Francisco’s 7-yard line. During Los Angeles’ next possession, Ward caught a pass that slipped through tight end Tyler Higbee’s hands, darted toward the left
sideline, eluded a tackle from Higbee and raced 27 yards for that touchdown.
On a night the 49ers held one of the NFL’s most potent offenses to 10 points, Ward offered the type of stabilizing presence that has made him a locker-room leader and San Francisco’s longest-tenured player. But those two interceptions, which snapped a personal takeaways drought dating to a Dec. 11, 2016, loss to the Jets, were the lasting images.
“He’s one of the best mancoverage defenders I’ve ever
seen,” linebacker Fred Warner said. “When he got that first interception, I said, “Man, you’re going to get a second one.’ … It was fun to see.”
That the interceptions came against the Rams made them only more memorable for Ward. During an interview with Sports Illustrated last summer, he said, “I don’t know why (Rams head coach Sean McVay) tries to go at me. I think I would try to go at somebody else. If you look at my track record, you’d be like, ‘Damn, this (expletive) dominated against the Rams.’ I
even blocked a punt against them. Why even go at me?”
In that same interview, Ward said, “They went and traded Jared Goff, who went to the playoffs several times and went to the Super Bowl. Yeah, he lost. He went to the Super Bowl, though. I’ve yet to see that with Matt Stafford.”
Such sound bites rippled through social media, prompting one Rams blogger to point out that Stafford had excelled against Ward and the 49ers’ secondary in the past. But the bulletin-board material also provided a reminder of why 49ers fans have come to embrace Ward. His swagger, both on the field and off, was a driving force behind his evolution into a team captain.
After going in the first round of the 2014 NFL draft out of Northern Illinois, Ward toiled through injuries and position changes as the 49ers cycled through four head coaches and four defensive coordinators. Now, with 366 career tackles and a keen grasp of different defensive systems, he is one of the league’s better safeties with no All-Pro selections.
His almost five years without an interception was at least partly rooted in the respect he commands from opponents. Long accustomed to going extended stretches without quarterbacks looking his way, Ward thrives at limiting game-changing plays.
That much was evident when he missed the 49ers’ Nov. 7 loss to the Cardinals with a nagging quad injury. In his absence, San Francisco endured a slew of botched tackles along the secondary as Colt McCoy completed 22 of 26 passes without an interception.
Listed as questionable to play against the Rams, Ward organized the 49ers on the back end and single-handedly handed Stafford his second multi-interception game of the season.