Week 10 - In Glendale, Arizona to face the (3-4-1) Cardinals, Chip Kelly's 49ers (1-7) were hoping to build off a nice game offensively against the Saints in Week 9 and escape the desert with their first win since Week 1. However, the third time would be a charm for Cards kicker Chandler Catanzaro who fell short on two other tries to kick a game-winning field goal this season, but came through when needed on Sunday vs the 49ers. After having the daylights beaten out of them last year in Arizona by a final score of 47-7, San Francisco kept things much closer this time around, but were unable to leave the desert with a victory as they fell short by a last second field goal as time expired. Coming off back-to-back hard fought games that resulted in a tie and a loss, the Cardinals who were returning from a BYE, got back on track in the win column with a close win over San Francisco that didn't come easy.
After falling into an early hole which saw Arizona take a 14-0 lead on a pair of touchdowns both thru the air and on the ground by running back David Johnson, the 49ers were able to rebound late following a shaky start as QB Colin Kaepernick and company failed to get a single first down in each of their first three offensive possessions. But a 17-yard touchdown pass to a wide-open Jeremy Kerley in the far right corner of the end zone would put the Niners on the board in the second quarter. It would be sweet redemption for Kerley who fumbled a punt return on the possession prior which set up Johnson's second touchdown. Catanzaro and 49ers kicker Phil Dawson would then exchange field goals to make it a 20-10 game at the half. Fairing much better on defense in the second half, San Francisco was able to force three Carson Palmer turnovers, including two interceptions and a fumble. From there the 49ers would cash in on two of those turnovers as an Eli Harold sack and forced fumble resulted in the second of Phil Dawson's long field goals on the afternoon and Gerald Hodges' interception led to a game-tying touchdown ran in by Kaepernick from 4-yards out.
With the game tied at 20-20 and Arizona taking over at their own 15 yard line with just under two minutes remaining in the 4th quarter, the Cardinals would need Carson Palmer and company to come alive for the first time since the first half as the 49ers defense had kept Arizona off the board in the second half. But a sprawling catch by Michael Floyd for a 26-yard gain and a 14-yard reception by Larry Fitzgerald who each eclipsed the 100-yard mark and combined for 233-yards receiving, would help the Cardinals get into field goal range where Catanzaro split the uprights from 34-yards out to kick Arizona to a 23-20 victory as time expired. Kaepernick would log another solid performance and was able to rebound from arguably the worst game of his career when the 49ers last visited Arizona a year ago, but it wouldn't be enough. Finishing with 210 yards passing and two total touchdowns, Kaepernick tied Arizona's David Johnson for a game-high 55 yards rushing as Niner running backs Carlos Hyde and DuJuan Harris were virtually shutout and combined for 28-yards on the ground. As for Carson Palmer, the Cardinals QB would total 376 yards through the air and added a 16-yard rush in the second quarter, the longest rush of his 14-year career, out-running both 49er running backs.
After torching the 49ers defense for 157-yards in their Thursday Night meeting just over a month ago, Cardinals running back David Johnson was held to a fraction of that on Sunday as the San Francisco defense held Johnson to only 55-yards on 19 carries and saw their NFL-record of allowing a 100-yard rusher finally come to an end at seven games. However, he would add another 46-yards receiving to account for 101 total yards, registering yet another stellar performance against SF. After seeing his production in the passing game diminish with Kaepernick taking the QB reigns over Blaine Gabbert in Week 6, receiver Jeremy Kerley finally found the end zone and got things going with Kaepernick as his quarterback as he hauled in a team-high 7 receptions for 71-yards. Hopefully, just hopefully the 49ers can use this game to build off of as Kaepernick continues to slowly shake off the cobwebs and the defense can string together consecutive games where they aren't dismantled by the run.
Week 10 - As if wins haven't already been tough to come by for the (1-8) 49ers this year, they'll now have to face the daunting task of playing Tom Brady and the (7-2) New England Patriots who will be making their first trip to Levi's Stadium. For what it's worth, the 49ers defense won't have to worry about Pro-Bowl tight-end Rob Gronkowski as he's been ruled out of Sunday's game with a perforated lung injury suffered in Sunday night's loss at home to the Seahawks. But we can all expect Brady and company to play with a chip on their shoulder when they hit the field again as they plan to avenge their heart-breaking loss to Seattle which ended on a goal-line stand as the Pats were unable to score from the 1-yard line. With a 49ers win at New England the last time these two teams met, all we can do is hope San Francisco comes out to play and makes it a competitive game, unless Colin Kaepernick is able to turn back the clock and throw for four touchdowns again like he did in that memorable win at Foxborough back in 2012.
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Week 5 - In the two games the 49ers played against division rival Arizona last season, San Francisco found little success against the Cardinals defense and couldn't find an answer for QB Carson Palmer as Arizona claimed the division crown. But after losing only three games all of last year, Arizona has already reached that mark through the first four weeks having struggled on both sides of the ball to the tune of a 1-3 start. Any thought of digging themselves out of an early hole and repeating as division champs or even contending for a Wild Card spot would be much more realistic if Bruce Arians' Cardinals could avoid the dreaded 1-4 start, making Thursday's game against the 49ers virtually a must-win. And with Palmer out with a concussion, the 49ers would have a golden opportunity against their division foe fall right into their lap facing backup Drew Stanton. However, costly mistakes in both the turnover and penalty department would doom any chance of Chip Kelly and company claiming their second win of the season.
Entering the game as the only team in the league that hasn't scored during the 1st quarter this season, Arizona would find themselves in that same position as both teams failed to muster any points in the opening period. But once the scoring began in the 2nd quarter, it was the 49ers who would strike first as QB Blaine Gabbert went 4 for 4 thru the air, with all four passes to wide-receiver Jeremy Kerley who has become Gabbert's go-to target this season. The fourth pass of the drive would be a 9-yard touchdown which gave Kerley two on the season, matching his total all of last year while with the Jets. Down by a touchdown, the Cardinals would score on the first of three turnovers by the 49ers to tie things up at 7 apiece as Gabbert had a pass deflected which fell into the hands of defensive-end Calais Campbell. Arizona would capitalize just one play later on a touchdown pass to Larry Fitzgerald. Making his first start in over two years, Cardinals quarterback Drew Stanton was held in check nearly all game long, passing for only 124 yards on the night, but two touchdown passes to Fitzgerald who has made a career out of torturing the 49ers, having scored 14 touchdowns against them throughout his career entering the game, would be plenty to help Stanton in an otherwise mediocre performance.
Fitzgerald would see that total reach 16 touchdowns scored against the 49ers by days end, the most ever touchdowns scored by one player against San Francisco thru the air. With the game tied at 7-all at the half, the 49ers would then gift wrap another opportunity for their opponent as return man Chris Davis gave Arizona the ball on the doorstep of the end zone to open the second half as he was stripped of the ball on the kickoff. After appearing to have held Arizona to a field goal, the Niners would shoot themselves in the foot even more on a running into the kicker penalty which gave the Cardinals a second chance to reach the end zone which they would do on the very next play on a rushing touchdown. Expected to see a heavy diet of hand offs to Cardinals running back David Johnson, the second-year back didn't disappoint, putting together one of the best games of his career. It would be a two man show for much of the game for Arizona as Fitzgerald and Johnson accounted for most of the offense, tallying a combined 266 of AZ's 288 total net yards and all four touchdowns. Before it was all said and done Johnson would finish with the best rushing performance of the NFL season so far with 157 yards and became the first player in Cardinals franchise history to record 100+ scrimmage yards in each of the team's first five games of the season.
49ers running back Carlos Hyde would also have himself a nice game statistically, combining for over 100 yards (78 rushing and 36 receiving) and finding the end zone for the sixth time in five weeks as his touchdown in the third quarter brought the 49ers within reach, trailing by a touchdown. But Gabbert's second interception of the night would dampen their chance of pulling off the victory as Arizona scored on a field goal, scoring 17 of their points off of San Francisco turnovers. As for Arizona themselves, Stanton and company managed to play a turnover-free game as the 49ers defense failed to force a takeaway for the second consecutive week. The only other scoring by the 49ers would come late in the fourth quarter as Gabbert took the ball into the end zone himself for a 1-yard rushing touchdown as he totaled 70 yards on the ground. Finishing with 162 yards passing, Gabbert would sling 102 of those yards to receiver Jeremy Kerley who became the 49ers' first 100-yard receiver in nearly an entire season (15 games). Unfortunately it wouldn't be enough as the Cardinals added a late safety to increase their lead and finish the 33-21 victory in Carson Palmer's absence.
Week 6 Preview: With a few extra days of rest, the 49ers will make the trip to the east coast as they head to Buffalo to take on the Rex Ryan led (3-2) Bills. And when they do, they'll be doing so with a different quarterback under center as 49ers coach Chip Kelly has made the decision to make a change with Colin Kaepernick taking over as the starter. In need of something to wake up the team which hasn't won since their season-opening shutout of the Rams, Kelly and co. is hoping Kaepernick who is finally healthy after undergoing a series of injuries during the offseason, can be the answer and breathe life back into the 49er offense. Unlike the 49ers, the Bills are currently riding a three game winning streak after dropping each of their first two. The last two times the 49ers and Bills faced one another, it was San Francisco who pulled out on top, outscoring Buffalo 55-6 in those games. The 49er Faithful would want nothing more than for that trend to continue as they hope to head into the Week 8 BYE week on a 2-game win streak.
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