San Francisco-Green Bay game features FOOTBALL FIGHT after Clay Matthews late hit

FOOTBALL FIGHT. (Niners fans, thank Clay Matthews and the refs for the free TD.)

By Rodger Sherman Sep 8, 2013, 5:34pm EDT

After playing in the NFC playoffs last year, San Francisco and Green Bay aren't exactly on friendly terms. Things came to a boil in the second quarter after Clay Matthews blasted Colin Kaepernick on his way out of bounds, and after some pushing, shoving, and mayyyyyyyyyybe even some punches thrown in a hockey-level scrum. And after some sub-par officiating, the Niners tossed a TD.

Kaepernick was just trying to get out of play on a third-and-9, which would've set San Francisco up for a chip shot field goal. But then this happened.

It's an obvious late hit, as Matthews launches into Kaepernick well after the QB crosses out of bounds. But that wasn't all, as the teams started getting down and dirty with each other:

Tough to see what goes on in there, but it's clear that everybody wants some.

At the end of it all, Joe Staley was assessed with an unsportsmanlike penalty to match Matthews' late hit, resulting offsetting penalties instead of a first down for the 49ers. The offsetting penalties should have led to a fourth down, but instead the refs wrongly allowed third down to be replayed. On the redo, Kaepernick threw a TD to Anquan Boldin to give his team the lead. So, yes, Matthews' play did give the Niners an extra four points.