49ers Fail to hold on late, Fall to Cardinals

Week 8 - With the San Francisco 49ers hitting the road to visit the division rival Arizona Cardinals in the desert, the contest between the two 1-6 teams would be as winnable a game the Niners would see away from home this season. But having lost eleven straight games in the month of October and riding a seven-game losing-streak to the Redbirds, nothing would be easy, nor guaranteed for Kyle Shanahan's group. Looking to avenge a Week 5 loss at home in which the 49ers obliterated the Cardinals in almost every major statistical category and yet still suffered defeat, San Francisco would need to play a much cleaner game as the turnover department was the lone outlier in that contest, 5-0 in favor of Arizona.

Not only would the 49ers manage their first turnover-free game of the season, but they would also force a pair of turnovers to go along with a safety. By halftime, the 49ers took a 5-3 lead into the locker room in what resembled more of a baseball score, highlighted by a pair of field goals and a safety cashed in by the San Francisco defense. Collecting only their second interception of the season, Niners defensive back Jaquiski Tartt jumped in front of a pass intended for Arizona's Christian Kirk to come up with the rare pick that put his team in field goal range. After throwing for a career-high 349 yards in the earlier meeting between these two teams, quarterback C.J. Beathard had a more modest performance thru the air in the rematch, throwing for only 190 yards on Sunday. Receiver Marquise Goodwin would provide the only fireworks for the San Francisco offense as he caught a pass and turned on the afterburners to blow by Patrick Peterson for a 55-yard touchdown. Following another Robbie Gould field goal, the 49ers took a 15-3 lead into the fourth quarter and appeared to be on their way to a second win of the season. But rookie quarterback Josh Rosen and long-time Cardinals receiver Larry Fitzgerald would have other plans.

Having been a thorn in the side of the 49ers since being drafted in 2004, Fitzgerald has had plenty of memorable games throughout his illustrious career which will ultimately send him to Canton, Ohio one day. Sunday was another one of those games as the Cardinals lifer who tallied 102 yards on 8 receptions, caught a pass for the 219th straight game to inch his team closer in the early part of the fourth quarter as he hauled in a 13-yard score that landed him seventh on the NFL's all-time touchdowns list. Now trailing 15-10, the work of Rosen & Fitzgerald would be far from over, but would hit a bit of a speed-bump on their next possession as Cardinals tight-end Jermaine Gresham fumbled the ball after crossing midfield. The turnover would give the 49ers a golden opportunity to potentially score and put the game out of reach for good, but instead had virtually no effect as San Francisco suffered a costly sack that would put the ball back in Rosen's hands with just over two minutes remaining. After watching Aaron Rodgers work his magic just two weeks earlier to help Green Bay pull off the comeback victory that would hand the Niners a crushing loss, Rosen would pull a similar stunt.

Streaking past a defender in the back of the end zone, Rosen found a wide-open Christian Kirk for the go-ahead touchdown. Electing to go for the two-point conversion to make it a 3-point lead, Rosen and Fitzgerald would hookup once more to make it an 18-15 Arizona advantage with only 39 seconds remaining in regulation. With the tables suddenly turned and what was once a 12-point lead now squandered, Beathard and company would need to pull off some late-game heroics of their own to avoid another heartbreaking loss. After making it across midfield with one timeout and seven seconds remaining, the Niners were in need of a quick pass and a gain of 8-yards or so to give their kicker a shot at tying it. Unfortunately, things would end before Gould would be given that opportunity as an errant snap sailed over the head of Beathard, icing the game and handing San Francisco their 12th straight loss in the month of October, their eighth consecutive loss against Arizona and their sixth straight loss overall. Rosen who's only two career victories have come against San Francisco, became the first rookie QB to overcome a 12+ point deficit in the fourth quarter by throwing multiple TD passes since Andrew Luck in 2012. He would finish the game with 252 yards to go along with his pair of touchdowns and one interception.

Neither team's rushing attack would prove to be much of a factor on Sunday as Cardinals running back David Johnson rushed for a game-high 59 yards on 16 carries and remains without a single 100-yard rushing performance this season, failing to rush for more than 71 yards in a game all year. San Francisco's Matt Breida also logged 16 carries but only managed 42 yards on the ground in what was a game-time decision for the 49er running back. Kendrick Bourne would lead all 49ers receivers with 7 receptions for 71 yards. While Richard Sherman would collect his first quarterback sack since 2012 in what was a three sack performance by San Francisco's defense, the 49ers offensive-line allowed four sacks on Sunday which now ties them with the Cleveland Browns for allowing the most sacks this season with 31.

Week 9 Preview - The 49ers (1-7) will have to put their latest loss behind them quickly as they get set to host their Bay Area rival on Thursday Night Football when the 1-6 Raiders make the short trip from Oakland to Levi's Stadium. Coming off a 42-28 loss at home to the Colts in which the Raiders also blew a late lead by allowing 21 unanswered-points in the fourth quarter, the two struggling franchises will square off in what will likely be the last Battle of the Bay before the Raiders relocate to Las Vegas after next season. Playing without their first-string running back in Marshawn Lynch who is dealing with a groin injury that could keep him sidelined for the remainder of the season, what better way to bid their cross-bay rival a final farewell than to hand them their fourth straight loss of the season and seventh overall. With San Francisco having the third easiest strength of schedule the rest of the season, their best chance at stringing a winning streak together will be these next two weeks before heading into the Week 11 BYE. Whether those games will be played with C.J. Beathard under center for the 49ers or Nick Mullens is anyone's guess at this point as Shanahan might be considering a change at the QB position.


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