The Arizona Cardinals could not complete their fourth-quarter rally Thursday night against the San Francisco 49ers and lost their fifth game of the season, falling 28-25. The 49ers improve to 8-0.
What can we take away from the loss?
Kenyan Drake made everyone forget about David Johnson and Chase Edmonds
Johnson and Edmonds were both out because of injuries. All Drake did in his Cardinals debut was pile up 162 yards from scrimmage. He had 110 rushing yards and a touchdown on 15 carries. He had four receptions for 52 yards. He ran for 36 yards on the first play from scrimmage and scored the first touchdown of the game. There are already fans saying the Cardinals should sign him long-term.
Offensive line shakeup
With Justin Murray unable to play because of a knee injury, the Cardinals moved Justin Pugh from left guard to right tackle and started Mason Cole at left guard. Pugh played right tackle for the New York Giants a few years ago and did all right on Thursday. It worked out OK.
Nick Bosa was invisible
After Bosa earned Defensive Player of the Week honors for his three-sack performance last week, the Cardinals kept him in check. He finished with one tackle, no sacks and no QB hits.
Cardinals made Jimmy Garoppolo look like a star
Many have questioned whether Garoppolo will ever be a quarterback who is the reason why the 49ers win. He was on Thursday. He threw for 317 yards and four touchdowns. All of his touchdown passes came on third or fourth down.
OK against the run
The 49ers entered Week 9 with the No. 2 rushing attack in the league, averaging more than 180 yards per game. The Cardinals held them to 101 rushing yards on 3.3 yards per attempt. Were it not for a 31-yard run by Matt Breida, the Cardinals would have completely shut down the 49ers’ rushing attack.
Offense did better than anyone else has against 49ers
The Cardinals scored 25 points, more than any team has scored against the 49ers defense this season. Arizona had more yards and more rushing yards than any other 49ers opponent. They had over 200 net passing yards, something only one other team has done against the Niners.
Cardinals couldn’t stop Emmanuel Sanders or George Kittle
Sanders had his season high on Thursday with seven catches for 112 yards and a touchdown. Kittle had six catches for 79 yards and a touchdown.
Patrick Peterson struggled
Peterson got beaten by Sanders on multiple plays and also allowed Dante Pettis to score a touchdown. It might have been his worst game as a Cardinal. Kliff Kingsbury defended Peterson after the game much better than he defended any receiver, citing his lack of experience in the defensive scheme and needing to still get into game shape after his six-game suspension. But if Peterson is more like what people expect, the Cardinals win the game.
Third-down woes
The Cardinals had little success on third down offensively or defensively. They converted only 2-of-8 on offense, while the 49ers went 11-of-17. That might have been the stat of the game.
2 Cardinals get first career touchdowns
Both of Kyler Murray’s touchdown passes were to rookie wide receivers. KeeSean Johnson’s nine-yard touchdown was the first score of his NFL career. Andy Isabella’s 88-yard touchdown was his first as well.
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