Martinez Tribune The website of the Martinez Tribune.
BY DANIEL GLUSKOTER
The 49ers came out flat against a decimated Arizona team and were never able to recover, falling 31-17 to the Cardinals Sunday afternoon.
The loss further damaged the already precarious position the Niners (3-5) had created for themselves in their uphill battle to make the NFC playoffs as they remain winless at Levi’s Stadium halfway into the season, falling an unsurmountable five games behind the first place Cards.
Arizona running back James Conner (6) runs the ball during the Cardinals 31-17 win over the 49ers Sunday afternoon at Levi’s Stadium. Connor scored three touchdowns on the day as the Cards improved to a NFL best 8-1.
The injury ravaged Cardinals (8-1) were playing without starting quarterback Kyler Murray along with DeAndre Hopkins and AJ Green, their two leading receivers, as well as three time NFL defensive player of the year JJ Watt.
Arizona wasted little time taking control of the contest, jumping out to a 14-0 first quarter lead on the strength of two rushing touchdowns by running back James Connor. Connor would add a third score on a 45-yard touchdown reception from Colt McCoy in the third quarter that stretched the Cardinals lead to 24-7, finishing with 96 yards on 21 carries along with five receptions for 77 yards thru the air.
San Francisco tight end George Kittle (85) runs the ball following a reception during the 49ers 31-17 loss to the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday at Levi’s Stadium.
Niners quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo completed 28 of 40 passes for 326 yards, 2 TD’s, and an interception. George Kittle looked like his old self in his first game back after a three game stint on the injured list, catching six passes for 101 yards and a touchdown. Brandon Aiyuk also caught six passes for 89 yards and a score.
Arizona tight end Zach Ertz (86) runs the ball following a reception during the Cardinals 31-17 win over the 49ers on Sunday.
Asked if the Niners could do anything different at Levi’s considering their 1-8 record since the start of the 2020 season, San Francisco coach Mike Shanahan basically dodged the question. “I don’t think we’ve played great football at home or on the road recently. But it’s happened that we’ve lost more at home. For me to think that’s anything in particular, I don’t. We got to play a lot better on the road and at home to become a better football team.” Kittle added,”This one’s going to suck for about 24 hours. You got to move on from it, it’s a long season. We still got nine games left, so if you just dwell on this one for the next week, it’s just going to put us in a bigger hole. It’s your dream job and if you’re not inspired to come back next week and work twice as hard and fix the little stuff and watch the film, whenever we watch it, then you’re playing the wrong sport.”
San Francisco linebacker Erik Armstead (91) blocks the Cardinals Josh Jones (79) on a play during the 49ers 31-17 loss to Arizona on Sunday at Levi’s Stadium.
The Niners will get an extra day to lick their wounds and try to get it right before returning to the field to face the Los Angeles Rams at Levi’s in a Monday Night Football matchup on November 15th.
GAME NOTES:
Garoppolo has now thrown for 300+ yards in consecutive games (322 last week in Chicago) for just the 2nd time in his career.
Kittle registered 100+ receiving yards in a game for the 11th time in his career.
Wide receiver Deebo Samuel’s 882 receiving yards on the season are the most through eight games in franchise history.
