49ers report card: How we grade the comeback victory over the Arizona Cardinals
The 49ers came back from a late deficit to earn a wild victory over the Arizona Cardinals to improve to 9-1. Here are our grades from the 36-26 win at Levi’s Stadium.
Passing offense: B+
Things started out slowly for quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, who completed one of his first four throws, which included catchable passes on his first two third downs to receivers Deebo Samuel and Kendrick Bourne that fell incomplete. The 49ers went for it on fourth-and-5 from the Cardinals’ 40, but Garoppolo couldn’t connect with running back Raheem Mostert on a wheel route. Garoppolo started to settle down, finding tight end Ross Dwelley for two touchdowns (not including one that was negated by penalty just before halftime). Garoppolo threw a bad interception to linebacker Jordan Hicks in the red zone as San Francisco tried for the lead.
Samuel, who had his second consecutive 100-yard game, made an incredible 26-yard catch that was batted in the air along the sideline that he still brought in between two defenders as he fell out of bounds, earning “Dee-bo! Dee-bo!” chants from the crowd. The drive resulted in Garoppolo’s third touchdown pass, finding Bourne for a 23-19 lead as the 2-point conversion failed. Garoppolo threw a second red-zone interception with 4:32 left in the game as he was trying rally from three points down.
Garoppolo finished with a career-high 424 yards, with the final 25 on a game-winning throw to reserve running back Jeff Wilson Jr., beating a jailbreak blitz to put the 49ers up 30-26.
Rushing offense: F
The 49ers, after having their least productive rushing game of the season Monday against the Seattle Seahawks, ran for just 12 yards on nine carries in the first half. Coach Kyle Shanahan altered his game plan due to the ineffectiveness of the ground attack, dialing up just 19 carries for 34 yards (1.8 average) to 45 passing plays after San Francisco came into the game running the ball on 53 percent of their snaps, the highest rate in the NFL. Not having tight end George Kittle, who missed a second game in a row with left knee and ankle injuries, loomed large as the offensive front struggled to define running lanes.
Passing defense: B+
The 49ers on their second series allowed quarterback Kyler Murray to convert a third-and-12 to receiver Pharoh Cooper inside the red zone which led to leaving receiver Larry Fitzgerald wide open for a 5-yard touchdown catch to make it 9-0. Murray started out 9 of 13 for 81 yards during his first two scoring drives, which included two pass interference penalties on cornerback Richard Sherman that set the Cardinals up near the goal line. The Cardinals got another easy touchdown when Cooper scored on a 5-yard bubble screen to make it 16-0 in the second quarter. Murray was slowed in the second half, finishing with 141 yards, two touchdowns and a 105 passer rating. The 49ers defense added a late touchdown on a fumble recovery when the Cardinals failed on a lateral attempt.
Rushing defense: C
San Francisco limited the Cardinals running backs to 19 yards on seven carries in the first half. But Murray gashed them for 45 yards on seven attempts, including a 21-yarder that set up the touchdown to Cooper. Murray fooled he entire defense when he kept a zone read and broke through the right side for a 22-yard touchdown to give Arizona a 26-23 lead with 6:30 remaining. Despite allowing 135 yards on 25 carries (5.4 average), the 49ers pulled out the win.
Special teams: B
Just before halftime, kicker Chase McLaughlin made his first attempt since his bad miss in overtime Monday, hitting from 43 yards to make it 16-10 Cardinals at the break. Mitch Wishnowsky’s first two punts went longer than 50 yards and weren’t returned. There were no glaring mistakes on special teams, which is a win after the overtime miss last week.
Coaching: B
The 49ers had their most penalty yards of the season since Week 1 at Tampa Bay, when they had 87. They had 10 flags for 127 yards. Shanahan altered his offense to go screen heavy to take advantage of the Cardinals’ blitzes and it worked in the second half, as did abandoning the running game. All things considered, San Francisco didn’t play well on the short week. But the 49ers overcame injuries and won another hard-fought game to improve to 9-1. They’ll take it.
This story was originally published November 17, 2019 at 5:07 PM.
