Late push not enough as Cardinals fall to 49ers 36-30

By Zev Black
Mail

The Arizona Cardinals (1-2) fought hard against their division rival, but ultimately fell to the undefeated San Francisco 49ers (3-0), 36-30, Sunday in Santa Clara. First-half penalties hurt the Cardinals, who committed eight infractions for 65 yards before halftime.

San Francisco brought out the trickery on their first drive with a hook-and-ladder play. 49ers QB Brock Purdy found veteran WR Mike Evans on the left side of the field who pitched it to Deebo Samuel Sr. He outran the Cardinals’ defense down the sideline for an 80-yard touchdown and the game's opening score.

They never looked back after that, leading for the rest of the game.

Offensively, the Cardinals struggled to get going in the first frame. Their initial three possessions all ended with punts.

This trend goes back to last week against the Seattle Seahawks when the team punted seven times. Arizona had punted on eight of their previous 10 drives. The two exceptions were last week’s final possession of the game and a drive that ended with a Jacoby Brissett interception.

After going down 14-0 early in the second quarter, the Cardinals were able to get some points on the board with back-to-back field goals to cut the lead to 14-6 and gain some momentum.

However, the 49ers covered 34 yards in just 23 seconds to get into field goal range for Eddy Pineiro, who nailed the 57-yard kick to go up 17-6 as time expired in the half.

The second half looked much stronger for the Cardinals.

They scored points on four of their five second half possessions, including three touchdowns. Two of those drives consisted of 14 plays.

Rookie running back Jeremiyah Love had his best game of his young career. He put up 39 of his 109 all-purpose yards in the third quarter.

Michael Wilson also had a big game. In addition to scoring the Cardinals’ first touchdown of the game, he had 11 receptions for 89 yards. The score was his first touchdown of the season.

The late surge cut the 49ers’ lead to two points on two occasions, but Arizona was never able to get over the hump.

With 1:31 left on the clock in the fourth quarter, Purdy found his tight end George Kittle in the end zone for his second receiving touchdown of the game.

Arizona kicker Chad Ryland made a 49-yard field goal with 34 seconds left, but it was ultimately too little, too late as they couldn’t recover the onside kick to keep the game alive.

Brissett finished the game with 280 passing yards and two passing touchdowns on 52 attempts. He added a rushing touchdown in the fourth quarter.

Tight end Trey McBride had nine receptions for 75 yards. He’s only had one game with fewer than five receptions since Dec. 22, 2024.

The Cardinals next play at 10 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 4, on the road against the New York Giants (2-1) at MetLife Stadium.