The San Francisco 49ers blasted the Arizona Cardinals 38-13 on Sunday at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara.
With the victory San Francisco (13-4) locked up the second seed in the NFC. They will host either Seattle or Green Bay in the first round of the playoffs.
Arizona (4-13) struck first when David Blough hit A.J. Green with a 77-yard touchdown strike on the second play of the game.
San Francisco responded with a quick 6 play drive, going 75 yards, and taking the lead on a touchdown pass from Brock Purdy to Christian McCaffrey.
Despite uneven play from the offense over the next three possessions the 49ers would hold on to the lead the rest of the way. Three forced turnovers by the defense helped San Francisco turn a 14-13 lead into a rout by the end of the third quarter.
Here are the answers to the five questions I asked prior to the game.
1.) Will the 49ers defense struggle against another unknown quarterback? NO
It looked like it could be another long day for the 49ers defense when David Blough connected with A.J. Green for a 77-yard touchdown on the Cardinals second play of the game. From that point on the 49ers defense did a solid job, allowing only 100 yards over the next 44 minutes.
Blough threw a pair of interceptions to 49ers safety Tashaun Gipson and fumbled the ball away after a sack by Jordan Willis. The turnovers led to 17 points for the 49ers. Blough was removed from the game following the fumble due to a concussion.
Over the last three weeks the 49ers have scored 29 points following turnovers by the opposing quarterback. That is complementary football at its finest.
2.) A record setting day for Nick Bosa? NO
Bosa was able to get to the quarterback one time before being taken out of the game following the third quarter.
Despite missing out on the record, Bosa finishes the regular season with a career high 18.5 sacks and 48 quarterback hits.
Fellow defensive end Samson Ebukam also set a career high. Ebukam and Charles Omenihu split a sack when they took down Blough to end the Cardinals second offensive possession, giving Ebukam five for the season.
3.) A strong finish for Brock Purdy? YES
Purdy finished his day 15-20, 178 yards and a career-high three touchdown passes.
Purdy opened the game hitting his first three attempts for 53 yards, finishing the possession with a 21-yard screen to Christian McCaffrey that the back took in for the score.
The rookie hit George Kittle for a pair of scores as well. Purdy and Kittle have connected for seven touchdowns over the last four weeks.
4.) At least 44 yards receiving for Brandon Aiyuk? YES
Aiyuk came into the game needing 44-yards to reach 1,000. He had three receptions for 39 yards in the first half.
On the opening play of the second half Brock Purdy hit Aiyuk over the middle off play action for 20 yards giving the third-year wide receiver 1,015 yards.. His 59 yards led all 49ers receivers.
In addition to going over 1,000 yards for the first time in his career, Aiyuk had a career high eight touchdown catches.
5.) How long will the starters play? About three quarters
With only 46 players active on game day, it is tough to pull all of the starters out, but the 49ers were able to pull a number of players after the third quarter.
Getting his first game action since November 27, Elijah Mitchell finished as San Francisco’s leading rusher with 55 yards on five carries and a pair of touchdown runs. Mitchell had a 37-yard burst around the right side on a screen which was ruled as a rush when Purdy’s pass went backwards.
Deebo Samuel returned as well, finishing with two catches for 20 yards and one carry for four yards. It was Samuel’s first action since being injured late in the second quarter against Tampa Bay on December 11.
Christian McCaffrey had been questionable heading into the game. He finished with 79 yards and a receiving touchdown on 13 total touches.
Prediction:
49ers 27 Cardinals 16
A cool time to be a 9er fan!
Go 9ers.
yes! I love that Kiddle is fully functioning again. Purdy has taken years off his life. I love Kiddle’s extroversion. Nice eyes as well.
Hacksaw,
I’m curious are you the same Hacksaw who was on here when G. Cohn was the moderator? From Texas with a wife who is a Teacher?
OC,
No , I predate Matt. Maiocco.
But really became a regular during Matt’s time as the moderator.
When Grant took over the room became toxic and drove me away.
We are lucky to have Jack as the moderator.
Inside the 49ers is great place to talk about football and of course the 9ers.
agree with the Hack. Cohn is primarily an entertainer who loves manufactured drama. We prefer Jack with his solid analysis and even temper. His sanity is appreciated as well.
As for Coach, I went home to check the tape and do not see a PI on JJ. It looks like Lenoir jumped too soon or was too far off the receiver. That pass should not have happened. Lenoir worries me. He needs help deep. Iwish we had the depth tartt would give us.
Let us hope Givens is back.
OL was not good Sunday and we need to be betetr. Seattle is well coached and knows our tendencies well.
Jack,
I have watched the flea flicker TD to Green a number of times, it looks like offensive PI to me do you agree? I believe that Lenoir was going to Int. that pass until Green pushed off. I think Lenoir has been in position to Int or knock down at least 3 balls in the last 2 games, he just hasn’t made the play. I think if they give him more time he will develop into a solid CB. I see next years defensive backfield being C ward and Moseley at CB with Lenoir at nickle. J. Ward Huf and Gibson at safety with Thomas and Womack as backup safeties. As long as they sign J. Ward I see this D backfield as solid for 2 or 3 more years.
OLD COACH
RE: 9ers 2023 starters and depth chart:
* With 23 UFA’s and 3 RFA, the 9er front office will have some difficult decisions to make as to who they want to,
or who they can afford to, resign. If the 9ers play deep into the playoffs, especially if they win the SB, there will
be players that price themselves out the 9ers price range. Keep in mind, that Bosa is going to be signed to a
$$$$ MEGA contract.
Here is a list of 9er UFA’s and RFA’s for 2023.
https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/free-agents/san-francisco-49ers/
Geep,
Cap issues are another reason the 49ers should look into trading T. Lance. If the 49ers release, trade or do not resign Lance, Kinlaw and Jimmy G. they can save Approx. 25 mill. That along with a bump in the salary cap of another 25 mill should give them the space to resign the most important players along with giving them a 1st round pick and likely another pick in the 2023 draft.
Trading Lance will not save any cap room. His dead money is about same as his salary next year
Really want to see Detroit pull this one out so we can take on the Shehawks here. Payback for the 2013-2014 season NFC Championship Game. Although have to admit that Greenlaw play to lock up the division at the 6 inch line in Seattle was quite satisfying.
Why all of the QB sacks against niners today? I watched streaming on computer; not TV.
M.B.
J.J. Watt brought his A game for his final game. On top of that Burford was terrible. Hopefully Banks will be back next week and Brunskill can take most of the snaps at RG. McGlinchey also played poorly. Lastly it seemed to me that they had Purdy in the shotgun most of the game which takes away play action fakes which slow down the pass rush. imho
Burning Q: Will jimmy be ready for the playoffs or will we be Joshed?
I would love to see a fully healed Jimmy with at least 2 weeks of practice under his belt but I just don’t think there is enough time. Maybe if we make the SB. So lets all say a little prayer for Purdy’s health cause we ain’t beating anyone with J.J. back there. imho
Agreed OC, let’s just hope we don’t need the 4th QB.
Season has been a great ride, let’s hope we don’t crash.
Cinderella scenario would be for Brock to get us to the SB, gets hurt in the 2nd half and a fresh JG throws the defining TD.
I strongly dislike playing teams a 3rd time. I don’t care what the record is for the first 2 games. I especially dislike playing the Seahawks for a 3rd time given Shanahan’s record against Pete Carroll. The Seahawk fanbase surpassed the Cowboy fanbase for Delta Bravoery long ago. It would be a nice little cherry on the season cake for Shanahan to pull a Stanford Harbaugh vs USC Carroll and go for 2 points late in the game to win by 34 points.
And Jack… This week I think one of your keys to victory has to be the Demo vs DK matchup. Demo can never ever ever ever be left 1v1 on DK on a deep route. Demo is not good defending deep passes and DK is very good on deep balls.
Pat,
I bet Ward shadows DK this week. Didn’t he do that last time they played?
If the pass rush can get home, the 49ers defense needn’t worry about the deep balls. It’s when the pass rush isn’t getting there, then they’re exposed over the top. They’re more likely to get creative upfront than anything.
I wouldn’t worry so much about manning up on DK, as Lockett can easily take the top off the defense as well. It’s more about making sure you collapse the pocket around Geno Smith. If Seattle figures out how to move him around to buy time or are effective in their protection schemes, then that’s where we will get burned.
Still, there is a massive talent disparity on both sides of the ball in favor of the 49ers. Other than this being a heated rivalry, we should be running away with this one. Of course, that rivalry thing tends to amp up Seattle so I don’t expect it to be a complete blow out- but I do expect a comfortable victory as long as we hold onto the ball.
Yeah, I agree with this. Pass Rush gets home and limits Geno’s scrambles and maybe nothing else matters. Tyler Lockett went 16 for 175 yards and 0 TDs;. DK went 11 for 90 yards and 0 TDs on the season against the 49ers. Lockett has done more damage than DK in the passing game. The one stat that sticks out to me now that I’ve looked at it – In the first meeting with the Seahawks the 49er defense limited the Seahawks to 14 rushes for 36 yards or 2.6 yards per rush in a 49er blowout. In the 2nd game, the Seahawks rushed 14 for 70 yards or 5 yards per rush. That 2nd game was much closer. Perhaps the real answer is to shut down the run and double Lockett while leaving Ward 1v1 on DK.
Titans requested permission to interview Adam Peters for their GM vacancy.
How instrumental is Peters in 49ers draft and free agency decisions? If Lynch ever goes back to broadcasting, I’d be happy with Peters as the GM choice.
Maybe Adam Schefter will someday tweet: Santa Clara – The 49ers have formally asked the 49ers for permission to interview 49ers Assistant GM Adam Peters for the 49ers General Manager vacancy.
Seems like Lynch is almost out the door to go back to broadcasting anyway. I wonder if he doesn’t resign to make room for Peters if it looks like Peters is getting hired away