49ers vs. Cardinals live blog: Second quarter

SANTA CLARA — This is the live blog for the second quarter of the 49ers’ irrelevant Week 17 game against the Cardinals. I will update this frequently with information and analysis from the press box.

2:00 Anquan Boldin makes a one-handed catch for a gain of five yards on third-and-2.

2:04 Marcus Martin is flagged for holding on second-and-10 from the Cardinals’ 37. Three plays later, Phil Dawson makes a 53-yard field goal. 10-7 Niners.

2:07 Touchback.

2:12 John Brown beats Marcus Cromartie for a 19-yard catch on third-and-9.  Two plays later, Michael Floyd makes a 27-yard catch near the left sideline. Jim Harbaugh is challenging that play. He think Floyd was out of bounds.

2:15 The officials confirm their ruling. It’s a catch.

2:15 Tank Carradine sacks Ryan Lindley on first-and-10 from the Niners’ 24. Loss of 8.

2:17 Two plays later, Michael Wilhoite picks off Lindley at the Niners’ 25.

2:23 Colin Kaepernick throws the ball away on second-and-11 and third-and-11. Phil Dawson will attempt a 37-yard field goal.

2:24 It’s good. 13-7 Niners.

2:25 Two good plays on that drive — a 20-yard completion to Michael Crabtree on third-and-8, and a 35-yard completion to Quinton Patton on first-and-10. On the throw to Patton, Kaepernick rolled out to his right and threw deep to his left. That’s a John Elway throw.

2:27 The Cardinals are flagged for holding during the kickoff. First-and-10 from their 10.

2:28 Lindley almost throws another pick on the first play of this drive, but Chris Culliver drops the ball.

2:29 Next play, Dontae Johnson gives up a 12-yard catch to Michael Floyd. First down.

2:30 Next play, Rob Housler catches a 20-yard pass over the middle. He was wide open.

2:32 Five plays later, Chris Culliver gives up an 18-yard catch to John Brown on second-and-8 from the Niners’ 33.

2:34 In case you missed it, Alax Flanagan, who spoke with Jed York for 20 minutes on the field before the game, is reporting that Justin Smith will retire after this game.

2:38 Marcus Cromartie breaks up a pass intended for Floyd in the end zone on third-and-12. The Cardinals make a 36-yard field goal and the score is 13-10 Niners.

2:41 Holliday returns the kickoff to the Niners’ 30. There is 1:29 left in the half.

2:42 Mike Iupati is flagged for holding on first down. Man, is he overrated or what?

2:46 The Niners go three-and-out. The Cardinals get the ball back at their 25 with 58 seconds left.

2:47 First play, Lindley completes a 21-yard pass to Larry Fitzgerald, who runs out of bounds. Bruce Arians and Tom Moore are relentlessly aggressive.

2:48 Two plays later, Dontae Johnson gives up a 13-yard catch to John Brown.

2:49 Next play, Dontae Johnson bites on a double move and gives up a 41-yard touchdown catch to Floyd. Craig Dahl was late getting over. The officials are reviewing the play to see if Floyd went out of bounds at the 1-yard line.

2:51 The officials confirm the ruling on the field — touchdown. 17-13 Cardinals, 36 seconds left in the half.

2:53 Holliday returns the kick to the Niners’ 25.

This article has 34 Comments

    1. “Johnson looks terrible.”

      How so? He bit on the flea flicker. But other than that he’s been alright. The commentator blamed him for the reception to Brown, but it looked like he was playing a shorter zone. Brown did a good job of finding the soft spot behind him.

  1. What was Harbaugh’s win/loss record on challenges as a 49er? Im guessing it was around 3/100.

  2. Was that QP downfield making a catch? Was he injured all season? That must be why the morons Harbaugh and Roman didn’t play him (or Ellington).

      1. I wonder if the poor ball protection/handling that we’ve seen from QP last game and this game also showed up in practice – which might be one of the reasons he hasn’t played much.

    1. Don’t blame Culliver for that reception to Brown (or at least not just him). Blitzed the two ILBs and still didn’t put much pressure the QB…

  3. I’m watching the Seattle game as well. The Rams are punishing RW. Every read option play that he gives it to the RB, they are hitting RW hard. That’s what you need to do, punishe the QB on those plays.

      1. You’re right about losing the game to get a higher draft pick. I’m worried about the secondary depth. Hopefully Reaser or Acker will show more. Johnson has been such a disappointment lately.l

  4. I love the niners, but I’m hoping the current scores to hold up. Screw the Seahawks. I’d like to see them try and win some playoff games away from their home.

  5. So can we give up 500 yard passing to a third string QB that had never thrown a TD before? I know the defense is devastated by injury, but this is still embarrassing.

  6. Random question in light of the depressing news that Cowboy is retiring.

    Is Q Dial a viable DE for us next year along with Carradine (presuming our “true” NTs come back from injury)?

  7. The last second half joint for roman and ck. This is where it all goes south. Nice turnout today.
    Phone is going dead due to peeking in on the sea-stl game.

        1. He was wide open, Kaepernick still led him out of bounds. Miller had to make a difficult toe-tapping catch.

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