Cardinals Beat Niners 23-14
By Tony Burgess
Sep 21, 2014; Glendale, AZ, USA; Arizona Cardinals wide receiver John Brown (12) celebrates a touchdown against the San Francisco 49ers during the second half at University of Phoenix Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
Cards win 23-14! Quarterback, Drew Stanton, looked tough for the Arizona Cardinals as he would take several big hits by the 49ers defense and throw some very nice deep balls with intense pressure in the face. Rookie receiver, John Brown performed like he did in the preseason as he would find the end zone on two occasions finishing the game with 4 receptions for 52 receiving yards.
The Cards would open up the long ball in the 2nd half as Stanton would take over the game for the Cardinals and changed the momentum completely to the Cards favor. Larry Fitzgerald did not have a reception until late in the 4th quarter and, on his 3rd reception, would fumble the ball in a critical spot but, luckily, the Cards’ defense would step up and take care of business.
The game would start out with the Cardinals having first possession and also were the first on the scoreboard as they would have a nice 7 play 47 yard drive which would end with a 51 yard field goal by Chandler Catanzaro.
The 49ers would get the ball back after the Cards’ score and put together an impressive drive of their own going 12 plays for 80 yards. Colin Kaepernick would then put the 49ers on the board with a 2 yard touchdown pass to Michael Crabtree. For the quarter, Kaepernick would go a perfect 7-7 passing for 61 yards. At the end of the 1st quarter, the score would be 3-7 in favor of the 49ers.
The 2nd quarter would begin with a score quickly nabbing another field goal by Catanzaro for 32 yards making the game 6-7. This would be the drive with the most plays of the game for both teams as the Cardinals would put together 17 plays for 66 yards which lasted 8 minutes. On passes of 5 or more yards, quarterback, Drew Stanton, would only go 3-11.
The rest of the 2nd quarter would consist of the 49ers having control of the ball as they would itch their way down the field for which would be the longest drive of the game going almost 9 minutes. The drive would conclude with a 6 yard rushing touchdown by 49ers rookie running back, Carlos Hyde. The score would now be 6-14, 49ers.
On the Cardinals’ opening drive of the 2nd half, they would score much more quickly than in the first half and they would get their first touchdown of the game as well. Stanton would perform a lot better on deep passes after the halftime break. Quarterback, Drew Stanton, would launch the ball to Michael Floyd for a 45 yard pass which would be followed by a 24 yard pass to rookie receiver, John Brown, for a touchdown making the score, 13-14 with the 49ers still in the lead.
The 49ers would punt the ball following the touchdown score by the Cards. The Cards would perform very similarly to their previous drive by making more long passes and finishing the drive with another passing touchdown to rookie receiver, John Brown, for his 2nd score of the day. The pass would be for 21 yards. The score would give the Cardinals the lead making the game, 20-14, in favor of the Cardinals.
Sep 21, 2014; Glendale, AZ, USA; Arizona Cardinals wide receiver John Brown (12) celebrates a touchdown against the San Francisco 49ers during the second half at University of Phoenix Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
The 49ers would get the ball back and move the ball quickly down field and, the majority, would be on a big play from Kaepernick to receiver Stevie Johnson which would be for 32 yards. With the 49ers now in the red zone, they would be moved back to do penalties which would force a 46 yard field goal attempt by Phil Dawson which would be blocked by newly acquired defensive linemen, Tommy Kelly.
Now in the 4th quarter, the Cards would have the ball and begin their march down the field which would include trickery by receiver Ted Ginn passing the ball instead of catching it to Michael Floyd which would be for a first down. The Cards would also finally get Larry Fitzgerald involved as he would make 2 consecutive big plays to continue their march down the field. Fitzgerald would have 2 receptions for 30 receiving yards.
Then, on Fitzgerald’s 3rd reception of the drive and for the day, he would fumble the ball on the 5 yard line which would be a critical play in the game for the 49ers as they would now take over on offense with just 5 minutes left in the game down by 6.
On the turnover, the Cards’ defense would stand tall and not let the 49ers get anywhere down the field as the 49ers would have to quickly punt the ball back to the Cards with just 4 minutes to go.
On the Cardinals following possession, a critical 3rd down and 8 would come and Stanton, like all game, stood in the pocket with poise and threw the ball downfield with pressure in his face as we would shoot for John Brown where Brown would draw the defensive pass interference call. This would put the Cards in good position to end the game.
The Cards would kick a field goal with 30 seconds to go which would ice the game.
The final score would be 23-14 as the Cardinals would get another victory making the season total being 3-0 and being atop of the NFC west division. Now who projected that the Cards would be number one in the division after 3 weeks of the season? We at HeatWaved did!
Key Stats:
Arizona Cardinals:
QB, Drew Stanton: 18-33, 244 passing yards, 2 touchdown passes
RB, Andre Ellington: 18 carries, 62 rushing yards, 3.4 average per run
WR, Michael Floyd: 5 receptions, 114 receiving yards
WR, John Brown: 4 receptions, 52 receiving yards, 2 receiving touchdowns
FS, Tony Jefferson: 10 tackles, 1 sack
San Francisco 49ers:
QB, Colin Kaepernick: 29-37, 245 passing yards, 1 touchdown pass, 13 carries, 54 yards rushing
WR: Stevie Johnson: 9 receptions, 103 receiving yards
WR: Michael Crabtree: 10 receptions, 80 receiving yards