49ers, Jimmy G Win close-call in Arizona

Week 9 - With the San Francisco 49ers (7-0) riding hot and paying a visit to the desert for a meeting with the Arizona Cardinals for the first time this year in a Halloween match-up that would feature the first two picks of the 2019 NFL Draft in Kyler Murray and Nick Bosa, Kyle Shanahan's defense would find themselves in rare territory and would be pushed to the brink for the first time this season. Having allowed 100 net passing yards or less in four straight games for the first time since 1977 and a combined 23-points in those contests, the 49er defense would allow more points than that in this game alone against a Cardinals team that came into the affair on a three-game winning streak of their own. In only their second division match-up of the year and on short rest, the 49er defense would be caught off-guard and for the first time this season would rely on the arm of Jimmy Garoppolo who answered the call by logging his first 300 yard performance of the year while throwing for a season-high 28 completions and a career-high 4 touchdowns.

Hall of Famer and Fox NFL analyst Michael Strahan questioned the ability of Garoppolo during the pregame show and begged the question of whether or not he could lead his team to victory if needed. "Has the game ever been on his shoulders? Has it ever been on him to win a game?" Those questions would be put to rest in this one as Jimmy G silenced the critics with his bast game yet, albeit against the rebuilding Cardinals. With the defense bailing Garoppolo and the 49er offense out on multiple occasions this season, it was only appropriate that their QB returned the favor on Thursday when the defense had a hiccup of their own and needed his help. Among their struggles against the Arizona offense, was the outstanding debut of Cardinals running back Kenyan Drake who was acquired from the Miami Dolphins just days earlier on Monday. With both David Johnson and Chase Edmonds nursing injuries, the Cardinals were forced to acquire three new running backs during the week. However, it'd be a one man show from the onset as Drake burst through for a 36-yard gain on his very first carry of the ballgame, an impressive start considering his previous season-long was only 11-yards while with Miami. Starting the drive and game with the big play from Drake, his team would continue feeding him as he finished the drive with a 4-yard score to kickstart his most productive game of the season and give Arizona an early 7-0 lead.

After surrendering only the second Cardinals touchdown in their last 21 drives to open the game, the 49er defense would keep the opposition at bey in their next two drives by forcing back-to-back three-and-outs. The 49ers would dodge a bullet early in the first quarter after having a scare when Pro Bowl tight-end George Kittle went down after taking a helmet to the knee. Kittle, easily the team's biggest weapon on offense, would head to the sidelines, but would return on San Francisco's next possession and would end up scoring the team's first touchdown on a 30-yard reception in which he shoo'd off a defender and stiff-armed his way to a game-tying score. The big time play would ignite a streak of three consecutive touchdown-scoring drives for the 49ers and four TD's in a five drive span as Garoppolo connected in the end zone with a different receiver each time. Garoppolo's second touchdown pass of the evening, a 7-yard connection to Kendrick Bourne, would be the first TD reception of the season for Bourne. His third touchdown pass, a 1-yarder to Emmanuel Sanders, would be the second in as many games for Sanders who has quickly become one of Garoppolo's favorite targets after being acquired just a week earlier via trade with the Denver Broncos.

But the Niners would have Arizona's first-year head coach Cliff Kingsbury to thank for the Sanders touchdown as they caught a huge break just before the half. Facing 4th and goal from the 1 yard-line and with 0:04 remaining in the half, Kyle Shanahan dialed up a hand-off that Arizona appeared to make a stop on at the goal-line. Fortunately for them, Kingsbury called for a timeout just before the snap, which then gave San Francisco another chance and resulted in the touchdown pass to Sanders as the Niners jumped out to a 21-7 lead at halftime. Showing the same uptempo offense to begin the second half that they showed in the first, the Cardinals, despite only 15-yards passing through the first two quarters, once again came out swinging and scored a touchdown on their first drive of the new half. Answering with a score of their own, Garoppolo would toss his fourth and final TD pass of the game as he found a wide-open Dante Pettis alone in the end zone from 21-yards out. And while it was his only catch of the night, he made it count in what's been a disappointing season from the second-year wide-out from the University of Washington.

After a Zane Gonzalez field goal made it a 28-17 lead for San Francisco in the fourth quarter, the Cardinals would strike for a huge 88-yard touchdown that took only two plays and chewed up only 35-seconds. Leading all rookie QB's in both passing and rushing yards, Kyler Murray found fellow rookie Andy Isabella who's third career reception and one and only catch of the night, would be a long one as he darted to the end zone for a 88-yard score that helped his team leap right back into the ballgame. Following a successful 2-point conversion to add to the busy day by Kenyan Drake, the Cardinals suddenly had all the momentum on their side and had the 49ers on their heels. With San Francisco taking over with under five minutes remaining and Arizona in possession of all three of their timeouts, the Niners were in need of a productive, yet time consuming drive in order to seal the win. Orchestrating an 11-play, 40-yard drive, Garoppolo managed to do just that as the 49ers signal-caller did a superb job eating up clock and making several big plays on third down. None would be bigger than the 3rd and 9 call at the two-minute warning that iced the win as Garoppolo stepped up and out of the pocket to deliver a clutch pass to tight-end Ross Dwelley who converted the game-winning first down that allowed his team to milk precious time as the final seconds ticked away.

Hoping to receive one final shot at rallying his team to victory, Kyler Murray would not get that chance and would have to watch from the sideline as the clock hit double-zero. Having outscored opponents by 130 points this season, the most through 7 games in franchise history, San Francisco would squeak by with the 28-25 victory to log their first win at Arizona since 2013 and snap their 8-game losing skid to the Cardinals. After becoming the first 49er to ever record three rushing TD's and a receiving TD in the same game, running back Tevin Coleman was virtually shutout as he was kept out of the end zone and held to only 23-yards on 12 carries. Matt Breida rushed for 78-yards on 15 carries, but both backs paled in comparison to Kenyan Drake who tallied 110-yards on 15 carries, registering only the third 100-yard performance of his career, while also adding 52-yards receiving on 4 receptions. But the player of the game would belong to Jimmy Garoppolo who became the first 49er QB with 4+ touchdown passes and 300+ passing yards in a single game since Jeff Garcia in 2000. With three of his TD passes coming on third down and one on fourth, Jimmy G also became the first 49er QB since Colin Kaepernick in 2012 to toss for 4 TD's in a game.

Garoppolo's favorite target of the game would be Emmanuel Sanders who in just his second game with his new team, has already hauled in a pair of touchdown passes after his seven catch, 112-yard performance against Arizona. With the timing and chemistry on a number of passes from Garoppolo to Sanders, you'd think the two have worked with each other all offseason long as the savvy vet and 2-time Pro Bowl receiver has already become arguably the biggest mid-season acquisition in the NFL this season. The ever-so reliable George Kittle also caught his second touchdown pass and racked up 79-yards on six receptions. It would be a quiet game for rookie sensation Nick Bosa who a week after being named both Rookie Defensive Player of the Week and NFC Defensive Player of the Week for his three sack, 1 interception performance against the Panthers, logged only one tackle in Thursday night's win. That win would come at a price, however, as the defense lost a key contributor in linebacker Kwon Alexander who will miss the remainder of the season after an MRI revealed that he suffered a torn pectoral muscle. Signed to a lucrative deal in the offseason, Alexander was enjoying a stellar 2019 campaign in the middle of this 49er defense.

Week 10 Preview - Officially halfway through the 2019-20 NFL regular season schedule and the 49ers find themselves as the last remaining unbeaten team in the league at 8-0. Turning the page to their next opponent, San Francisco will return home to host the Seattle Seahawks (7-2) on Monday Night Football. Hoping to win their second straight game against their division rivals, the 49er defense will need to rebound quickly from their rough performance against Kyler Murray and the Cards as they'll see a similar skill set in Russell Wilson who's even more dangerous and has been arguably the league's MVP through the first half of the season. Despite Wilson's monster game on Sunday in which he threw for 378 yards and 5 touchdowns, the Seahawks needed Overtime to avoid being upset at home to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The 49ers will certainly have their hands full with Wilson, but are also expected to get one of their starters back in Tackle Joe Staley who's been out since Week 2 when he suffered a broken left fibula against the Bengals. One thing that is certain is that there'll likely be plenty of fireworks as Richard Sherman gets to take on his former team and head coach once again when the two teams renew rivalries on Monday.


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