Clay Matthews late hit on Colin Kaepernick leads to 49ers-Packers fight [GIF]

The 49ers and Packers have developed a healthy rivalry over the last year, and that rivalry ratcheted up today. In the second quarter, Colin Kaepernick was scrambling and going out of bounds near the Packers five-yard line when Clay Matthews jumped, grabbed Kap and dragged him down, all while out of bounds. Here is a picture of Matthews jumping at Kap:

Like, what are you doing? pic.twitter.com/p5pJ3x4nnJ

— World of Isaac (@WorldofIsaac) September 8, 2013

Here's a GIF of the hit.

A flag was quickly thrown for a personal foul, but things quickly heated up as Joe Staley and the 49ers offense came to their quarterback's defense. Matthews took a swing at Staley, and the 49ers left tackle swung back. This resulted in offsetting penalties and a replay of the previous third down. The 49ers quickly responded as Kaepernick connected with Anquan Boldin for a quick touchdown. Here is a GIF of the fight:

The 49ers and Packers still have over a half of football to play, so we'll see if it gets any more chippy. There has been a lot of talk about hits on read option quarterbacks, with Matthews most vocal. Of course, given that the 49ers run read option a small percentage of the time, I'm not sure how pertinent this will be. Well, aside from clearly firing up the 49ers if anybody takes a shot at their quarterback.

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