Look up brutal losses in the NFL, and the San Francisco 49ers (2-3), 24-23, loss to the the Arizona Cardinals (2-3) at the hottest game in Levi’s Stadium history might come up.
It was 95 degrees at kickoff, and though the 49ers started the game with heat, they had their second, second half meltdown against a division opponent in two weeks.
“Extremely frustrated,” said 49ers’ head coach Kyle Shanahan.”I think we had 13 points and 17 in the other. By no means should we be able to give that away. Always will come back to turnovers, in my opinion. There are other things you can do to overcome them.
“Talked about it last night, how we thought a key in this game would be turnovers, and that’s exactly what the first half was. Gave us a huge advantage and then it flipped in the second half. And when you do that stuff, it’s hard to win.”
The 49ers didn’t score any points in the second half, as their red zone woes continued. San Francisco was 1-of-6 in that department, which is less than ideal.
The red zone backbreaker came with 6:11 left in the fourth quarter, when running back Jordan Mason lost a fumble on 1st-and-goal from the eight yard line.
That turnover set up a Cardinals 14-play, 74-yard drive that ended on a Chad Ryland 35-yard field goal with 1:40 left in the game to put Arizona on top. The 49ers had time to answer, but on the second play of the ensuring drive, QB Brock Purdy was hit as he threw and the pass was tipped and intercepted. Game. Set. Match.
“I haven’t lost confidence in this team.” Nick Bosa pic.twitter.com/V35bC0LOMP
— Tracy Sandler (@TracyFGSN) October 7, 2024
San Francisco was at a disadvantage, as they lost kicker Jake Moody to a high ankle sprain in the second quarter. Moody suffered the injury while making a tackle on a kickoff return.
“[The Moody injury] impacted it, but the biggest thing was those turnovers,” said Shanahan. “The pick to start the series, I mean to start the second half, and then having that fumble down there inside the 10. Don’t know how it would’ve impacted it later, because I believe that was first down.”
Ironically, the return followed by far the 49ers best special teams play of the season, when DL Jordan Elliott blocked a punt that CB Deommodore Lenoir returned for a touchdown.
A bright spot on offense was Brandon Aiyuk, who came alive on Sunday to the tune of eight receptions for 147 yards.
The 49ers defense had difficulty stopping the run, especially late in the game, and the tackling issues that have plagued the defense all season continued Sunday. In fact, during the Cardinals’ final two drives (a 73-yard touchdown drive and the aforementioned field goal drive), running back James Conner had 72 yards on 12 carries.
“They were giving us a different look on the zone read,” said defensive lineman Nick Bosa. “I think in all of our losses, the preparation we’ve had has been great, but teams are playing us different and doing things differently and we need to adjust better.”
Quarterback Kyler Murray started the game with a 50-yard TD drive of his own.
“It’s pretty simple,” Bosa said. “In the NFL, having turnovers and not playing complementary football will cost you. Since Kyle’s taken over, this organization has found ways to win. It’s not about how good your players are, how explosive an offensive is or how good a defense is. If you’re turning the ball over and you’re not making those plays on defense in crucial moments, you’re going to lose in the NFL. I haven’t lost any confidence in this team. It’s early. It’s a long year. We’ve been through worse and I think we’ll respond well.”
And they’ll have to respond quick, as the 49ers head to Seattle this week to take on the Seahawks for Thursday Night Football. The quick turnaround has its pluses and its minuses.
“My first instinct is to say we got a quick game, a quick turnaround,” said linebacker Fred Warner. “It’s a unique situation. Obviously, you want to fix the problems that are going on out there. We had the game won and we gave it away but you have to wipe it away and get onto the next game. There really isn’t any time to sulk or feel sorry for yourself. You have to move on…I wish we had a full week to clean up what we messed up on…We’ve got another chance in four days.”
Five weeks in, the 49ers are figuring out who they are, figuring out how to be without RB Christian McCaffrey for awhile, how to be without LB Dre Greenlaw for awhile, how to adjust to a new defensive coordinator, and with all that, how to finish and win football games.
“It’s the standard here, is excellence and what we’ve proven in the last couple years of the standard of what we can play at,” Purdy said. “That’s what we’re trying to get to. But every year is different with just the team, the chemistry and getting guys together. You’ve got new keys, some guys leave. I think all throughout this, it’s early in the season and we’re still trying to find our true identity as a team and we’re getting there. It’s a couple plays away and a couple drives away from gelling and gluing together. But I’m confident that we’ll find it. We’ve just got to get into a rhythm and play complementary team football.”
One more note: S Talanoa Hufanga left the game with a wrist injury, the severity of which is not yet known.