Three plays into Sunday's crucial victory at SoFi Stadium, something rare occurred.
The San Francisco 49ers won the coin toss and deferred to the second half, allowing the Los Angeles Rams offense to open the contest.
On 2nd-and-8 inside at their own 15 yard line, quarterback Matthew Stafford was flagged for a false start penalty as the newly-built Los Angeles venue significantly erupted in cheers.
It was loud. Maybe too loud for a home team.
Now whether the false start was a result of crowd noise or not, the fans in attendance made a huge impact on Sunday's game, so much so, that it made it difficult for Stafford and his offense to operate at times.
"It was a tough environment for us to communicate in, really, the whole second half," Stafford said postgame.
It was wildly convincing at the stadium. But even watching from TV, it was easy to spot the challenges the fans posed to the home team. Right tackle Mike McGlinchey, who has followed more than half of the 49ers season from home while recovering from a torn quadricep, pointed out the adjustments Stafford and Co. had to make throughout the contest.
"Rams using silent count in their home stadium. Faithful in full force," McGlinchey tweeted in the third quarter.
It's worth noting, while San Francisco scored back-to-back touchdowns, the Rams were held to a punt followed by an interception as the game was tied up at 17 during the third quarter.
All credit goes to the 49ers Faithful who showed up in droves in Los Angeles for the must-win divisional showdown. From defense chants to raucous third down crowd noise, 49ers fans completely removed any sense of a "home field advantage."
To the naked eye, the prominent blue seats and stadium décor was filled with waves of red. It appeared as if fans of the 49ers made up more than 60 percent of the 60,000-plus spectators in attendance, and it didn't go without notice to the home team.
"(49ers fans) did a nice job showing, that's for sure," Stafford added.
It's not a rare occurrence that 49ers Faithful travel well to road matchups. The striking red hues are prominent adjacent to their opponents' colors. And the support has followed the team through their highs and lows of the season.
"It's so cool to go to opposing stadiums and see half of it red," Kyle Shanahan said. "I didn't know how it'd be here in SoFi, but the Coliseum was always some of the best experiences. Here I didn't know what to expect because it was my first time here with fans, but when we came out at the beginning of the game and I saw the same thing that I saw at the Coliseum, it helped. That was pretty cool."
Added linebacker Fred Warner: "I think it might have been the second half and we're on a TV timeout and the ref's standing there and he's like, 'man, who set this up for you guys to have this many fans out here.' And I was like, 'I don't know. But this feels like a home game.' (The fans) came up big at the end there. You felt it. It felt like a home game."
San Francisco is set to face off against one of the strongest fan bases in the NFL as they look to take on the Cowboys in the Wild Card round of the postseason – Dallas' first playoff appearance since 2018.
While there's no doubt this deep-rooted rivalry game is certain to have a packed house at AT&T Stadium, it wouldn't come as a surprise if the well-traveled Faithful look to create a similar affect in Dallas.
