SANTA CLARA, Calif- San Francisco 49ers started out really good in the first quarter , Opening drive went down to Arizona 34 and Robbie Gould kicked a 52 yard field goal to go up 3-0 .
Second drive the 49ers get the ball ,and it was a quick 1 play drive .After LB Isaiah Simmons , Cardinals number one pick,took a terrible angle on Raheem Mostert on the wheel route. After Garoppolo got the pass to Mostert it was a 76 yard TD to put the 49ers up 10-0 . The next drive the 49ers went three and out and could have really put this game away. Special teams came out and Ezekiel Turner blocked the punt and turned this entire game around for the Cardinals .
The entire game from this point on,49ers lost momentum of this game .Kyler Murray threw a TD to Chase Edmons to put the game to a 10-7 game .
Second quarter both teams made field goals to end the quarter . Robbie Gould with a 24 yard FG and Zane Gonzalez with his longest FG of his career of 56 yards .49ers went in at half time with a 13-10 lead .
There was no scoring in the third quarter . The fourth quarter Arizona scored on Murray’s 22 yard run for a touchdown to put the Cardinals up 17-13 . Jimmy Garoppolo responded with a drive that ended with a 5 yard pass to another blown coverage by Isaiah Simmons ,that Jerick McKinnon caught for a walk in touchdown . The 49ers took a 20-17 lead with 8 minutes left in the game.
This game was not about the new toys that Jimmy was supposed to have with Deebo Samuel , Brandon Aiyuk, and Ben Garland all were not available for this game. He was able to work with Jerick McKinnon ,and Jordan Reed .
This game was taken over by DeAndre Hopkins who ended up with a career high in receptions at 14 with 16 targets. He showed the 49ers what a real WR can do when you add them to your team. Hopkins also ended up with 151 yards and almost got in for the winning TD, but was down at the one yard line. Kenyan Drake finished it with a one yard TD run to put the Cardinals up 24-20.
The 49ers had 5 minutes left on the clock, to go down the field and score the winning TD. Last year it was something expected with this team . Jimmy Garoppolo has had national media rumors if he is the long term answer with this organization. Coming from a huge fan of his, I’m starting to have my doubts. The great thing for the Faithful,It’s not up to me. Jimmy did march the 49ers down to the 30 yard line,had a wide open Kendrick Bourne, and just lofted it up in the end zone.Patrick Peterson was able to knock it away from Bourne at the last second. On fourth down he had an open WR Trent Taylor at the first down sticks,was very late throwing the ball, and it was behind him on the biggest throw of the game . Game was over .
We could all tell that the game plan was to run the ball in this game , however with only 4 healthy WR, Jimmy only threw the ball 4 times to our WR, and that is unacceptable for a team like the San Francisco 49ers . They have a lot to work on and it starts with our captain on offense .
Side Notes from this Game : George Kittle hurt his knee in the second quarter and didn’t look the same after that . They will know more about his injury tomorrow . (Lower Leg Injury) Richie James also had an injury with a Hamstring and his update will also be updated tomorrow per Matt Maiocco from NBC Sports .
By: Bryan Bauer
Niners Radio