BY DANIEL GLUSKOTER
The 49ers suffered a painful unexpected loss to the Arizona Cardinals Sunday, falling 24–23 on a blistering hot afternoon at Levi’s Stadium.
Handicapped by a first quarter injury to kicker Jake Moody which forced them to eschew most field-goal attempts, the Niners (2-3) lost a crucial game to a division opponent just days before needing to travel to Seattle for a Thursday night game against the division leading Seahawks.
Arizona’s Kyzir White intercepted a tipped Brock Purdy pass with 1:16 remaining to seal the upset win for the Cardinals (2-3) and spiral the 49ers divisional record to 0-2 with only four days to prepare for their trip to one of the most notoriously hostile stadiums in the NFL.
With mid game temperatures topping 100°, the Cardinals quickly signaled that it would be a long day for the 49ers when Arizona quarterback Kyler Murray broke free for a 50 yard touchdown run on just their second offensive play of the game.
The Niners would come back to take a 10–7 lead before the quarter was over on the strength of a Moody field goal and a four yard touchdown pass from Purdy to George Kittle. The second quarter would see San Francisco stretch their lead to 20–10 following a blocked Arizona field goal attempt by Jordan Elliott was scooped up by Deommodore Lenoir and returned 61 yards for a touchdown.
But the ensuing kick off would see Moody leave the game with five minutes left in the second quarter with a high right ankle sprain after getting hurt on a tackle during the return.
Punter Mitch Wishnowski converted a short field goal with a second remaining before halftime to stretch the 49ers lead to 13, but it would be all downhill from there for San Francisco as they would be unable to put any more points on the board in the second half.
Entering the final quarter trailing by ten, Murray led the Cards on a 12 play, 73 yard touchdown drive to close their deficit to 23-21 after the Niners were forced to go for it on a fourth and 23 from the Arizona 27 yard line due to their lack of a reliable field goal kicker.
A James Connor run converting the two point conversion after Murray found Elijah Higgins in the left side of the end zone for a two yard touchdown pass would put the Cardinals in position for their first win at Levi’s Stadium since 2021.
Regaining the ball with just over six minutes remaining on the clock, Arizona relied heavily on running back James Connor on their resulting 13 play drive culminating
in Chris Ryland’s game winning 35 yard field goal with 1:40 remaining, before Purdy’s second interception of the game sealed their fate.
Asked how he felt about the 49ers losing a ten point lead to a division opponent for the second time in three weeks, San Francisco coach Kyle Shanahan didn’t pull any punches, ““Extremely frustrated. I think we had 13 points (today) and 17 in the other (against the Rams). By no means should we be able to give that away. Always will come back to turnovers, in my opinion. There are other things you can do to overcome them. Talked about it last night, how we thought a key in this game would be turnovers, and that’s exactly what the first half was. Gave us a huge advantage and then it flipped in the second half. And when you do that stuff to win.”
Purdy finished 19-35 for 244 yards with a touchdown and the two interceptions. Jordan Mason had another fine game with 89 yards on the ground on 14 carries, but also had a costly fumble. Brandon Aiyuk had his best game of the season, catching eight passes for 147 yards.
Murray wound up 19-30 for 195 yards with a touchdown and an interception, adding 83 rushing yards on seven carries and the long score on the ground, while Connor gained 86 yards on 19 carries.
The Niners Thursday night game against the Seahawks is slated for 5:15PM at Lumen Field in Seattle.
