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During the San Francisco 49ers’ loss to the Los Angeles Rams in Sunday’s NFC Championship Game, a key moment occurred in the fourth quarter when 49ers defensive back Jaquiski Tartt dropped a potential interception.
After the game, Tartt took to Twitter and accepted blame for failing to make a play that would’ve led to a huge shift in momentum:
Jaquiski ‘Quaski’ Tartt @quaski
No excuses!! I deserve all the criticism my way! Opportunity I dream of I came up short!!! Let my brothers down!! It Still won’t define me as a person/player. Only will get stronger and better… <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/Believdat?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#Believdat</a>
Tartt also took responsibility for the drop during his postgame press conference (warning: contains profanity):
The play occurred almost midway through the fourth quarter with the 49ers leading 17-14. Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford fired a deep ball intended for Van Jefferson, but he overshot the receiver and the ball hit Tartt in the chest before bouncing off his hands to the ground.
Tartt laid on the field for a few seconds with his hands on his helmet in disappointment. He was seen being consoled by teammates well after the play had happened.
San Francisco head coach Kyle Shanahan had some encouraging words for Tartt after the game, saying the loss didn’t come down to just that one play.
“Tartt has done a lot of good things. I’ll tell you he was one of the best players on the field last week vs. Green Bay,” Shanahan told reporters. “I’ve loved him being on our team here since I’ve been here. I know he’s disappointed in that drop that he had, but there’s a lot of other plays in the game, and I’m very happy that Tartt was on our team this year.”
The 49ers blew a 10-point fourth-quarter lead and allowed the Rams to score on three consecutive possessions to go in front. San Francisco quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo threw an interception on the team’s final drive that sealed the game for Los Angeles.