Jimmy Garoppolo threw his fourth touchdown of the game to put the 49ers ahead 28-14 at the end of the third quarter. Arizona attempted to push the tempo on offense with success on their first attempt, but the 49ers’ defense made an adjustment on their second drive.
With 15 minutes left in Arizona, here’s what stood out in the third quarter:
49ers defense struggles with tempo
Arizona came out of halftime pushing the tempo on their first offensive drive with success. The Cardinals cashed in on a seven-play, 83-yard drive that took just 2:41 off the clock. The 49ers are struggling finding a way to stop Kenyan Drake, who has 123 yards from scrimmage (78 on the ground). It will be something to watch if the 49ers can adjust to the change of tempo and hold Arizona out of the end zone.
The Jimmy Garoppolo show
This is the game from Garoppolo that 49ers fans have been looking for. On the second drive of the second half, Garoppolo completed just three passes, but one was a 23 yard catch-and-run to George Kittle, and the second was a perfectly thrown 22-yard pass to Emmanuel Sanders on a third down. Garoppolo closed the drive with a 21-yard touchdown pass to Dante Pettis where he faced a blitz and stood strong in the pocket to hit the receiver.
Defense rebounds and completely stops the tempo
The 49ers responded to Arizona picking up the tempo on their next series. Arizona was called for holding on first down, which was followed by a DeForest Buckner sack on the next snap. Arizona was close to converting a third-and-18, but a penalty negated the gain and the defense was able to stop the second third down attempt. It was a nice recovery from the previous drive and more importantly kept the 49ers lead at two scores.
