This one hurt more than the others. This one hurt because it was close, because they were in it, because for much of the game, the San Francisco 49ers outplayed the Arizona Cardinals, and because the game wasn’t over early in the third quarter. It was over as time ran out and the Cardinals kicked a field goal to beat the Niners 23-20.
“They aren’t handing out participation trophies in the National Football League,” said head coach Chip Kelly. “Every loss hurts.”
True, but this game had something we haven’t seen in a long time and that is positive elements. Let’s start with quarterback.
In his fourth start, which took place in the place where he probably had the worst start of his career a year ago, Colin Kaepernick looks like a man in a groove. Building off his solid game last week, Kaepernick finished the day 17-of-30 for 210 yards and a touchdown. He also led the team with 55 rush yards and a rushing touchdown. The Niners could not get the run game going, so it was all Kap and the deep-ball passing game. He looked poised and in control and much like his old self. So that’s encouraging.
“…I think every week that I get more reps, every day I get more reps, it’s more and more comfortable” said Kaepernick. “At this point when Chip is calling the play or when [offensive coordinator Curtis Bodkins] is calling the play, I know what they’re thinking, I know what they want to get done with that play and that makes me feel more comfortable and our offense is doing a great job of executing the plays that are being called.”
Speaking of penalties, the Niners had 100 yards in them. That’s bad. That can’t happen next week. But I digress; I’m looking at the positives.
Who was this 49er defense? Because it sure wasn’t the same one we’d seen the seven weeks prior. After seven weeks of allowing teams well over 100 yards rushing every game, the Niner defense only allowed 80. On top of that, there were two forced fumbles, two interceptions and 10 pass break ups. Yes, when it really counted in the final two minutes, the defense could not contain the Cardinals’ offense, but to say this was a massive improvement is an understatement.
In the end, it wasn’t enough, but my goodness, it sure was better than anything we’ve seen since week one. Next week, the New England Patriots come to town. The 49ers are going to have to find a way to establish the run and they’re going to have to clean up the penalties, but maybe, just maybe, it won’t be the bloodbath it looked like it would be a week ago.
“Our defense played well today,” said Kaepernick. “They came out, they had a lot of turnovers, gave us opportunities to score. I thought we did a good job on offense, had some opportunities and took advantage of them. There’s still room for us to grow. There’s still room for us to get better. There’s still room for us to capitalize on things we left on the field today.”
Maybe this one didn’t hurt more than the others. Maybe this one hurt less, because San Francisco looked like a professional football team for the first time in a long time. Bring it Pats. Go Niners!
- Thank you Jennifer Lee Chan for providing the quotes for this piece.