The San Francisco 49ers pulled off a 28-23 win over the Arizona Cardinals on the road to improve to 8-0 on the season.
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Final Score
San Francisco 49ers 28, Arizona Cardinals 25
San Francisco 49ers
Dee Ford collected a first-quarter sack of Kyler Murray after beating Justin Pugh outside to end a Cardinals' first-quarter drive. Fred Warner jumped a route early in the game but couldn’t hold onto the pick. Richard Sherman undercut a target intended for Christian Kirk and broke the pass up in the second quarter.
D.J. Jones snuck around A.Q. Shipley to force Murray out of the pocket, which allowed Dre Greenlaw to pick up a clean-up sack of the fleeing Murray in the second quarter. DeForest Buckner picked up a third-quarter sack of Murray after beating Mason Cole outside.
Jimmy Garoppolo was more than just a game manager tonight, as he made a number of good throws in what ultimately ended up being a close game.
New trade acquisition Emmanuel Sanders had himself a game, running crisp routes and gashing Patrick Peterson and the Cardinals' secondary for big gains all night.
Arizona Cardinals
The main ingredient to the Cardinals' hot start on offense was the rushing of the newly acquired Kenyan Drake. The former Dolphins back ripped off a 36-yard run on the first play from scrimmage, where he displayed an effective stiff arm and a good burst of speed. Drake showed the speed again to get around the edge for a four-yard touchdown to cap the drive. Drake was productive on the ground all night, targeted in the passing game and generated most of the big plays for the Cardinals’ offense.
Kyler Murray nearly threw an interception to Fred Warner as he undercut a curl route to Christian Kirk, but Warner wasn’t able to hold onto the interception. Murray threw a touchdown to KeeSean Johnson on a crossing route rolling to his right on the Cardinals’ first drive of the second half. The play of the night for the Cardinals' offense is when rookie second-round pick Andy Isabella caught a pass from Murray and sprinted for an 88-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter.
Patrick Peterson had a night to forget, as he allowed a number of completions to Sanders as well as a late third-down conversion that helped the 49ers seal the game.
Budda Baker had an up-and-down game. He made a couple of impressive plays on the ball in coverage but also missed a couple of costly tackles.
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