NFL Week 5: San Francisco 49ers vs. Arizona Cardinals Recap

Jeremy Howard via Flickr

NFL

Arizona Cardinals Beat Out San Francisco 49ers

The San Francisco 49ers lost at home to the Arizona Cardinals 28-18 in an NFC West Week 5 matchup. The Cardinals have now extended their winning streak against the 49ers to seven wins in a row, while also picking up their first win of the season.

In a game that showed little excitement, both teams’ biggest plays came in their opening drives. It remained close until late in the fourth quarter, thanks to mistakes and penalties on both sides of the ball. With the 49ers losing to a rookie quarterback and a winless team, the road ahead is a long one.

San Francisco 49ers

Offense

The San Francisco 49ers offense had a total of 300 passing yards and 147 rushing yards for a combined total of 447 yards. Quarterback CJ Beathard completed 39-54 for 349 yards, two touchdowns, and two interceptions.

Beathard led the Niners on a 8-play, 75-yard opening drive which resulted in a touchdown to running back Matt Breida. The Cardinals almost stopped the 49ers. However, a pass interference penalty against Cardinals safety Budda Baker kept the drive alive. The extra point was unsuccessful due to a botched hold by kicker Bradley Pinion.

What looked like a good start for the 49ers was, unfortunately, to end on that opening drive. Beathard saw a drop in performance compared to his game last week against the Los Angeles Chargers. He held the ball too long, having to throw it away on several occasions. Poor ball security and awareness also led to fumbles and interceptions.

Penalties that veteran players should not have been making hampered the offense. The offense made up for eight of the team’s nine penalties.

Breida started the game strongly, rushing for 56 yards off eight carries. An ankle injury early in the first quarter would sideline the running back for the remainder of the game. The run game would suffer after Breida left the field. Alfred Morris took over as the number one back, rushing for 61 yards off 18 carries. Coach Kyle Shanahan persisted with the run game despite it stalling until late in the game.

The San Francisco 49ers would not score again until the fourth quarter. On 4th and goal the Niners went for it, stacking the right side of the field with four receivers. Beathard threw to wide receiver Trent Taylor for the touchdown. The two-point conversion, however, was no good.

The Niners’ final touchdown came late in the fourth quarter, courtesy of a quarterback sneak from Beathard. The two-point conversion was again unsuccessful, with tight end George Kittle dropping the pass.

George Kittle again led the 49ers in receiving yards with five receptions for 83 yards. Kittle continues to be a standout player on offense and is having a breakout season.

The San Francisco 49ers offense had a total of 33 first downs compared to the Cardinals’ ten. They also had a total of 92 plays against the Cardinals’ 49 and still could not get the job done. Whether the offense’s poor performance stems from injuries or poor coaching decisions, improvement is needed.

Defense

The San Francisco 49ers defense improved this week. Although there were some early missed tackles and assignments, for the most part, they played well. They kept the Niners in the game while the offense was unable to put points on the board.

They held the Cardinals to limited first down attempts and had some big stops throughout the game. Including a great defensive series after a 49ers punt that put the Cardinals on their own five-yard line.

Cornerback Richard Sherman was listed as questionable going into Sunday’s game. He sat out the defense’s first defensive series, however, with the Cardinals opening play touchdown, he promptly appeared on the field to assist the secondary. Sherman shut down Larry Fitzgerald for the remainder of the game, with the star wide receiver finishing with two receptions for 35 yards.

The defense had one sack for the game after a bad snap from center Mason Cole allowed for Cassius Marsh to put the hit onto quarterback Josh Rosen. The defensive end also led the team’s stats with a total of four tackles.

Injuries

Matt Breida left the field in the first quarter with an ankle injury and did not return. Wide receiver Pierre Garçon left the field briefly also in the first quarter, however shortly returned for the remainder of the game.

Arizona Cardinals

Offense

The Cardinals offense had a total of 164 passing yards and 56 rushing yards for a combined total of 220 yards. Quarterback Josh Rosen completed 10-25 for 170 yards and one touchdown.

Rookie quarterback Josh Rosen led his team to their first win of the season, with Sunday’s game also being his first career road start. Rosen fired up the offense with an impressive throw on the Cardinals opening drive. He threw a bomb to wide receiver Christian Kirk for a 75-yard touchdown. Kirk was left wide open after safety Adrian Colbert missed his assignment, resulting in Kirk’s first NFL touchdown.

Much like the 49ers after their opening drive, the Cardinals offense failed to provide much excitement for the remainder of the game. Their run game was fairly non-existent thanks to some tight coverage from the Niners defense. Rosen was also unable to connect to his receivers on several occasions, overthrowing them for some potential big gains.

Running back David Johnson led the Cardinals in rushing with 18 carries for 55 yards and two touchdowns. Johnson rushed for two yards in the second quarter for a touchdown and again for 12 yards in the fourth quarter.

Christian Kirk was the number one receiver for the day with three receptions for 85 yards.

The Cardinals offense had 227 yards less than the 49ers, however, were still able to come away with the win.

Defense

Coming into Sunday’s game, the Cardinals defense was one of the lowest ranked in the NFL. It showed throughout the game, with the 49ers piling on reasonable rushing and receiving yards.

They also spent a huge amount of time on the field due to a high completion rate of Niners first downs. Despite all this, they were able to hold out their opposition and produce some big plays, helping their offense achieve good field position.

They applied pressure to Beathard and came away with four sacks while forcing the quarterback to throw the ball away during other plays. They had two interceptions as well as several other near interceptions and fumble recoveries.

Safety Tre Boston came away with an interception off Pierre Garçon’s hands, returning it to the San Francisco 43-yard line. Cornerback Bené Benwikere had the other interception, returning it to the San Francisco 35-yard line.

Cornerback Patrick Peterson recovered a fumble from Raheem Mostert for a 43-yard return, putting the Cardinals into good field position.

Safety Budda Baker led the Cardinals with 16 tackles and one sack. Defensive end Chandler Jones also stood out with six tackles, a strip-sack and a fumble recovery.

While linebacker Josh Bynes recovered a stripped ball from Beathard running away with a 23-yard return for a touchdown.

Injuries

Guard Mike Iupati sat out for a short period of time with a shoulder injury however returned in the third quarter. Tackle Andre Smith left the game with a hamstring injury while linebacker Ezekiel Turner also left the game with an undisclosed injury.

The San Francisco 49ers now move to 1-4 while the Arizona Cardinals also join them at 1-4.

Photo Credit

Featured Image courtesy of Jeremy Howard

 

Subscribe to get the latest news from TSJ at the TSJ 101 Sports TV YouTube channel!

Play And Win Weekly at ThriveFantasy!