A camerawoman was sent crashing to the turf when she took a brutal shot from an Atlanta Falcons player during their clash with the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday. 

Midway through the third quarter at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Michael Penix Jr threw a touchdown pass to his hulking tight end Kyle Pitts.

The 6ft 6, 250lbs Pitts managed to catch the pass in the end zone but was moving so fast he couldn't stop running.

As a result, Pitts and 49ers safety Malik Mustapha collided with a helpless camerawoman stood on the sideline.

She fell backwards under the crushing force of the two NFL players and stayed down on the turf for a while.

Despite scoring a touchdown, Pitts and his Falcons teammates didn't celebrate and stayed with the camerawoman to make sure she was okay. 

They helped her back to her feet and, while looking slightly disheveled, she looked to be okay.

It proved to be a brilliant day for the Falcons as Penix Jr threw three touchdowns, and Atlanta scored 13 points off four turnovers as they handed the 49ers their first loss of the season.

San Francisco was already thin at wide receiver before its offense faced additional limitations when running back Christian McCaffrey missed much of the first half with a thigh injury.

Rookie linebacker Kendal Daniels intercepted Brock Purdy's pass intended for Jordan Watkins with 2:34 remaining. It was Purdy's second interception. Daniels then recovered a fumble by George Kittle with less than a minute remaining.

Penix threw scoring passes to tight ends Nick Muse and Pitts before giving Atlanta a 26-14 lead with a 21-yard touchdown pass to Drake London in the fourth quarter. Penix completed 25 of 34 passes for 213 yards with no interceptions.