The San Francisco 49ers had a blowout win over the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, improving to 7-4 and turning things around after getting beaten big against the Los Angeles Rams the weekend before.
San Francisco
got off to a fast start from the opening kickoff, which Skyy Moore took 98 yards to set up a one-yard Christian McCaffrey touchdown run. That parlayed into a quick 13-0 start, and the 49ers were up 25-10 by halftime. Fast-forward to the end of the third quarter, and San Francisco added 10 more points to its lead before ultimately winning 41-22.
It was a great offensive performance from the 49ers, as Christian McCaffrey had his most efficient day of the year, Brock Purdy had three touchdowns in his return, and the team didn’t have any turnovers.
But, San Francisco’s defense also did its job to hold Arizona to 10 points through three quarters, forcing three turnovers and completely neutralizing the Cardinals’ run game, which managed only 36 yards on the day.
The 49ers did allow the Cardinals offense to be on the field for 82 plays, and Jacoby Brissett did pass for 452 yards, but that was partially because San Francisco had multiple shorter fields from the turnovers, and Arizona was playing from behind all day.
What did Kyle Shanahan think of the performance?
“I was really proud of our defense,” Shanahan said. “I think it was 35-10 at some time in the fourth quarter. I think we played a lot of soft zone, wanted to make them work for it to get down the field. You obviously would like to get off and stuff, but losing a defensive end in that game with Robert [Beal] going down early in the game, playing with three defensive ends through 82 plays, and our linebackers in and out.
“I thought our guys grinded. I thought we kind of wore out big time at the end, but we were playing pretty soft coverages and just trying not to let them get back in the game. The yardage does suck, but sometimes that’s how games play out, and with the turnovers they got and how they played throughout that game, I thought the defense was really, really good.”
Now, the 49ers did so without getting any sacks on Brissett, who had taken 16 in the last three games combined. So, the pass rush remained a big question mark. But, Shanahan felt it was more about missing opportunities than anything.
“Yeah, I thought we had our opportunity a couple times,” Shanahan continued about the pass rush. “I thought Jacoby hung in there really well and took a couple big hits and delivered some big-time throws and a couple big plays.
“I liked that we didn’t come after him as much with calling blitzes and things like we did the week before, which allowed him to get rid of the ball and get completions. But, I thought we did better not giving up the big play. The ones that we did, we did have pressures on. So, we seemed to find a better balance with that in this game.”
That balance has been something the 49ers have been trying to figure out defensively with all the injuries. It wasn’t there the week before against the Los Angeles Rams and was also an issue when the 49ers lost to the Houston Texans.
But, the balance was good enough on Sunday, and the 49ers defense got the job done, especially on the turnover front.
