The 49ers put up a valiant effort but fell to the Cardinals in a meaningless game.
The San Francisco 49ers came out of the gates aggressively against the Arizona Cardinals. Ricky Pearsall caught a 30-yard pass on the second play from scrimmage. Unfortunately, the Niners would lose rookie running back Isaac Guerendo to what appeared to be a severe knee injury.
After a Josh Dobbs pass was incomplete to George Kittle on 3rd & 5, Jake Moody improved his field goal percentage of 40+ yards to 3-for-10 on the road after making a 51-yarder. That gave San Francisco an early 3-0 lead.
Fred Warner and the defense brought the energy. They forced a quick punt after giving up a 22-yard reception.
Dobbs and the offense marched down the field, thanks to a 21-yard reception to Kittle and a pair of 12-yarders to Jauan Jennings. But a sack on first down from the 25 meant the drive would stall. This time, Moody was wide left from 47. So, the hiccups continued.
That wouldn’t be the final special teams mistake of the quarter. The defense got a stop, but a 22-yard fake punt put Arizona in field goal range. Chad Ryland was good from 51 yards to tie the score at three apiece.
Dobbs threw a pass to Jennings, and the Cardinals’ defensive back clearly impeded Jauan. The referee initially threw a flag, but they picked it up and awarded Sean Murphy-Bunting the interception.
The 49ers’ defense competed and hung tough after Renardo Green broke up a pass and Dee Winters picked up a run stop. However, multiple missed tackles on 3rd and 8 led to a 23-yard touchdown by Greg Dortch.
Jauan Jennings picked up a pair of unnecessary roughness penalties on the ensuing drive and was disqualified before halftime. It meant Jennings wouldn’t reach the 1,000-yard receiving plateau. If there were anything that was going to stop Jennings, it would’ve been himself — specifically, fighting. Kyle Shanahan chatted with Jennings along the sideline and didn’t seem bothered.
Jennings’s contributions to the drive would eventually lead to a touchdown run by Josh Dobbs that would tie the game at ten.
The Cardinals had no trouble moving the ball, largely thanks to Tre McBride. He had receptions of 29 and 12 on the drive. The 49ers had surrendered another drive inside the red zone by the two-minute warning. McBride would score his second touchdown of the season to give Arizona a 17-10 lead after beating Fred Warner in coverage.
Safety Malik Mustapha left the drive with a knee injury and was questionable about returning. Ji’Ayir Brown filled in for Mustapha.
Dobbs executed the two-minute drill to perfection. Patrick Taylor helped with a 12-yard run, but Chris Conley was the recipient of a 21-yard pass to put the Niners inside the Cardinals’ red zone. Jacob Cowing caught a 14-yard pass, and the offense was cooking with gas inside Arizona’s six-yard line with 25 seconds to play. Dobbs connected with Pearsall on third and goal to tie the game at 17.
The Cardinals only needed three plays to get into field goal range, thanks to a 25-yard reception before the end of the half. Chad Ryland’s 49-yarder was good to give Arizona a lead they were unlikely to give up.
After each team punted to begin the third quarter, Marvin Harrison Jr. began the first play with a 14-yard reception. By this point, Talanoa Hufanga had been ruled out with a concussion. Rookie cornerback Renardo Green was also questionable to return with a groin injury.
A couple of 9-yard gains from Michael Carter gave Arizona the ball at San Francisco’s two-yard line, where Dortch found himself wide open for another touchdown. Tashaun Gipson, who had filled in for Hufanga, made the stop on the two-point conversion to keep the Cardinals at 26.
Rookie Jacob Cowing had a 16-yard pass, only to give it back on the next play with a holding penalty. Patrick Taylor picked up nine yards on 4th & 1, and then Shanahan dialed up the perfect trick play to Kyle Juszczyk, who dove into the end zone for a 36-yard touchdown to bring the 49ers within two to make it 26-24.
That was the longest touchdown of Juszczyk’s career, and only the second time he’s scored in back-to-back games. The last time Juice did was in Weeks 12 and 13 of the 2020 season.
Wide receiver Chris Conley was questionable to return with a groin injury.
Murray found Harrison for 20 yards, McBride for 14, and Dortch for another 13 before Carter scored another touchdown. That gave Arizona a 33-24 lead.
That touchdown meant the 49ers had surrendered at least 30 points in five games since the bye week. The one team who didn’t top the 30-point mark was the Miami Dolphins, who scored 29.
Conley returned, and caught a 23-yard pass on 3rd & 8 during the ensuing drive. That pass gave Dobbs a new career high in passing yards at 301. However, Dobbs would fumble on 2nd & 12, turning the ball over two yards shy of the red zone.
The defense held, thanks to Winters making a couple of stops and a pass breakup by Ji’Ayir Brown on third down against McBride. It was 33-24 with just over seven minutes to play before the 49ers regained possession.
Colton McKivitz ended up hobbling off the field, which meant the offensive tackles were Charlie Heck and Austen Pleasants. On 3rd & 10, Dobbs threw into coverage, and it was intercepted and returned for a touchdown to give the Cardinals a 40-24 lead.
The play went under further review. It would have been a difficult catch, but the throw deflected off Pearsall’s hands and into the arms of the defender. The play was reviewed, and the interception stood but the defender was ruled down by contact.
Unlike the previous mishap, Arizona turned this turnover into points. A defensive pass interference by Rock Ya-Sin netted 24 yards. Then, a fade to Harrison put Arizona up 40-24.
For good measure, Arizona running back Tony Jones scored from 46 yards out after Ji’Ayir Brown missed a tackle at the point of attack to make it 47-24, and ending San Francisco’s season as they would fall to 6-11.