There’s something about “Thursday Night Football” and ridiculous catches this season.
After the Jets’ Garrett Wilson channeled Odell Beckham Jr. with a one-handed touchdown in October, Rams star Puka Nacua made his bid for the catch of the year with a ridiculous grab that he corralled with the help of a 49ers defender’s helmet — almost akin to David Tyree’s infamous Super Bowl catch — in a 12-6 Rams win.
On the second drive of the game for Los Angeles, quarterback Matthew Stafford dropped back and threw a quick out route toward the far side of the field with the ball being placed a bit high for Nacua, who leapt to make the grab.
And as Nacua jumped, 49ers defensive back Charvarius Ward, instead of looking for the ball, had his eyes on Nacua to either smack the ball out of his hands or bring down the wide out.
Instead, though, Nacua used Ward’s helmet and left shoulder to hold on to the ball for a seven-yard pickup.
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The second-year receiver came into Thursday game after having his best week of the year on Sunday against the Bills with 12 grabs — including a touchdown — for a 162 yards.
One of those 12 receptions was an incredibly acrobatic sideline catch in which he almost magically kept his toes in on the far sideline.
But with the helmet catch four days later, Nacua might have one-upped himself.
He finished the night with a game-high seven catches for 97 yards in what was generally a defensive game.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
