San Francisco 49ers 20 - Arizona Cardinals 24: Disappointment
The 49ers take a massive loss vs. the Cardinals as the OROY Murray plays amazing.
That was bad. Very bad. The 49ers put up a stinker against their divisional opponent the Cardinals, and take a terrible defeat. You would think the defending NFC Champs would have easily won this game, but the main issue: Jimmy Garoppolo looked out of rhythm, inaccurate, and flat out made bad decisions. He was a statue in the pocket for 3 quarters, and the 3 times he exited the pocket the entire game, 2 were nearly intercepted and one was a prayer that was not answered.
Jimmy G: 19/33, 259 yards, 2 TDS
Offense
At first look it does not look bad at all, but anyone who watched the game can tell you - he lost us the game. The defense was good to start off but got tired, and tired fast in this bad air quality because of the inability to score after the 1st quarter. Dante Pettis and Kendrick Bourne got open multiple times deep and were ignored by Jimmy, who’s arm strength looked terrible to say the least. Multiple wobblers including a clear TD to Bourne who burned Patrick Peterson, which instead was broken up. He underthrew too many players and just could not do anything - the biggest play for the 49ers today was a 77 yard TD to Mostert - which was actually a 5 yard angle route that Mostert took all the way - take that away from Jimmy and it makes a lot more sense. Garoppolo also made a terrible high throw to Kittle that got him injured at the end of the 2nd quarter, however Kittle luckily was able to return but in a limited fashion.
The 49ers were 2 for 11 on 3rd down - it’s called the money down for a reason and the 49ers went broke today.
Defense
Defensively, the 49ers were bad because of a high snap load. There were no preseason games and getting tired is normal for a defense that had to play so much, and Murray burned the 49ers defense multiple times with both his mobility and his arm. DeAndre Hopkins terrorized Moseley all game, and Sherman got lucky with a couple of deep plays being given up but not completed. Kwon Alexander missed multiple tackles, Dee Ford looked very slow and got stonewalled multiple times. Javon Kinlaw was getting bullied in the pass game - the only positives on the defensive side of the ball were Jaquiski Tartt, Dre Greenlaw, and Nick Bosa. Bosa had multiple pressures but no sacks, and Greenlaw tipped a pass that was picked by Tartt.
You can always go into the unreasonable calls that the refs made towards hits on Murray and a questionable PI call but keep this in mind: the Cardinals missed 2 FGs as well, meaning that they were actually slated to win 30-20. Special teams was dominated by the Cardinals, including a blocked punt in the 1st quarter, but in general, every side of the ball was a win for the Cardinals - a young and inexperienced team yet they had control of this game since the 1st quarter.
New Additions
There were not many positives at all - playcalling, everything was bad. Trent Williams looked great as did Jerick McKinnon in their debuts, but that was about it. Trent Taylor and Dante Pettis did not impact the game at all, especially Pettis. Jordan Reed had a couple nice short catches. The 49ers managed a total of 2 sacks, and 4 TFLs the entire day - a stark contrast from the past season.
This is Week 1, so overreactions are expected, but it was Week 1 for everyone else including the Cardinals. Garoppolo did not play well. Neither did the defense, and the playcalling was below average - this offense is being limited from big plays because of a refusal to call deep throws and or vertical passes, and that’s what caused the 49ers to be terrible on 3rd down the entire afternoon.
Post-Game Interviews:
Kyle Shanahan in his post-game presser was extremely reserved - this team will get a tongue lashing and rightfully so, this was an embarrassing performance for the Super Bowl team on the “revenge tour”. For a team that rejected the SB Hangover label, today looked dangerously close.
Shanahan was asked about Jimmy Garoppolo:
“Like the entire offense, he missed opportunities. We all did."
"It's a reminder we're back at football and had a number of chances to win that game."
Mike McGlinchey had a similar outlook, saying:
“We left the door open and the Cardinals are a good football team and they took advantage of it."
Richard Sherman mentioned miscommunication as a key issue with the defense today.
George Kittle put it best:
“We didn’t help out our defense."
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Early thoughts: Yes there was some bad luck. Refs extended a certain drive way too long. Punt got blocked. But they also lucked out in Arizona missing two field goals. With both those in mind, the 49er did deserve to lose.
Shanny was fine. Not a standout day, but he made the best out of having a third string center and what should be our two best receivers out. At least nothing super egregious that really made me angry. Maybe the 4th down call but that's more hindsight for me. I wanted that at the time. If Jimmy doesn't throw so many wobblers at the end, or move around a bit earlier on, we win. Week 1 is always janky but it was a bad start for him. At least he didn't get picked I guess. But that's hard to do when you're not on the field.
Defense, our guys are bad at playing contain. You have to handle pass rush differently against someone that willing to run and we let the squirrel scramble too much. They also spent too much time on the field since offense couldn't convert a 3rd down. They started off well, and got tired and hit by flags (some deserved, some not, but that's football).
At least the Jets are next. Should be a perfect bounce back week
I really really really hate BOB for trading Hopkins away for nothing.