The San Francisco 49ers seem to be in a never-ending nightmare of losing extremely winnable games, this time falling 18-15 in week eight to the Arizona Cardinals.
49ers Week Eight Loss
Bad teams find a way to lose games, and they often get creative in seeking out defeat when it appears all but certain a victory is about to be earned.
There are a lot of people to potentially place the blame on regarding yet another heartbreaking loss for a team now playing primarily for draft position.
Bad Snap at the Worst Moment
Center Weston Richburg was out for this game, and while the absence of a starting center is expected to affect pass protection and run blocking, it can also lead to debilitating errors snapping the ball.
On the very last play of the game, when the 49ers had a timeout remaining and were only about five yards out of field goal range with a chance to tie the game, backup center Erik Magnuson snapped the ball well over the head of C.J. Beathard.
It’s easy to put this loss squarely on Magnuson, but it’s really not fair to him, particularly when examining the final few minutes of that game.
49ers Offense Can’t Run the Clock Out in Fourth Quarter
Fred Warner recovered a fumble that was forced by Tyvis Powell on a catch and run by Jermaine Gresham with just under five minutes remaining in the game.
The 49ers were up 15-10 at that point, and if their offense had been able to string together a few first downs, they could have put more points on the board to secure overtime, or even just take too much time off the clock for the Cardinals to get the ball back and respond.
However, Beathard and the offense ran just five plays on that drive, gaining just four yards and only taking 2:28 off the clock.
49ers Defense Can’t Make a Final Stop
The Cardinals offense took over from their own 27-yard line needing a touchdown to win and just 2:16 remaining on the clock.
At that point, it’s not too much to expect the 49ers defense to keep a Cardinals offense that had been unimpressive to that point out of the end zone.
The 49ers defense had held the Cardinals to just 10 points as the Cardinals started their final offensive drive, and it’s not like the 49ers defense had been particularly taxed up to that point.
The 49ers actually won the possession battle, not so much because the 49ers offense kept the chains moving, but because the 49ers defense was able to get the Cardinals offense off the field quickly on most drives.
The Cardinals had 11 offensive drives in that game, and the 49ers held them to three plays or less on four of those drives.
The Cardinals offense converted six third downs over the course of the game, with three of those third down conversions coming on their final offensive drive.
The 49ers defense had been great until that final drive, but allowed Josh Rosen and the Cardinals to go 73 yards in 1:42 on 12 plays.
49ers Win Takeaway Battle
Beathard had a chance once again to drive down the field and either tie or win the game, but again he wasn’t able to do it.
Before that bad snap, he had actually done a great job of marching the team to just outside field goal range with a chance to send the game to overtime.
He had a very game-manager type of performance, and for the first time in any game he has started this season he didn’t commit any turnovers.
In fact, the 49ers as a team didn’t turn the ball over at all this game, and their defense even forced two takeaways that temporarily shifted the momentum in this game.
The first was an interception by Jaquiski Tartt that he returned for 23 yards to the Arizona 12-yard line in the second quarter.
In what’s further evidence that the blame for this loss deserves to be spread out beyond just Magnuson or the defense, the offense wasn’t able to cap that possession with a short touchdown.
They ran four plays and went just three yards before Robbie Gould came on the field to kick a 27-yard field goal to give the 49ers a 5-3 lead.
It looked like a baseball score by the time halftime rolled along, caused by a safety that the 49ers defense forced in the first quarter.
The 49ers delivered pressure to Rosen on a third down, and he was called for intentional grounding in the end zone which resulted in a safety.
49ers Suffer From Self-Inflicted Wounds
They were able to get that safety because Bradley Pinion pinned the Cardinals inside their own five-yard line, but it looked like the offensive drive was poised to score before things got derailed.
The 49ers offense had a first down in field goal range, but a sack by Antoine Bethea backed them up nine yards and the 49ers offense was not able to recover.
A safety gives the ball back to the offense after the defensive score, and there was a real opportunity for the 49ers to further capitalize on their great defensive play.
They proceeded to go three-and-out on their offensive drive after the safety, missing a solid chance to further make the Cardinals pay.
There are more ways besides turning the ball over for a team to wound themselves with self-inflicted errors, and the 49ers were resourceful enough to find other ways to hamper their efforts at ultimately winning this game.
On the Cardinals drive after the three-and-out following the safety, the 49ers defense had held them on third down, but Reuben Foster was called for a pass interference penalty.
That kept the drive alive, and Phil Dawson was able to make a 31-yard field goal for the Cardinals that ended up representing the difference in the final score.
In hindsight, there’s at least a pretty decent chance the 49ers would have won that game had they been able to hold the Cardinals to a punt on that drive like they originally did.
Nice touchdown Catch by Goodwin
In a game that was full of costly errors for the 49ers, there were still some plays that were able to energize the team.
The only touchdown the 49ers scored was a shallow cross caught by Marquise Goodwin, who showed once again that he’s one of the fastest players in the league.
He turned the corner on the third-down catch and accelerated through the defense to produce a 55-yard touchdown that put the 49ers ahead 12-3 in the third quarter.
That was the main highlight of the day for a 49ers offense that never really seemed able to develop a rhythm against the Arizona defense. Beathard finished 14/28 for 190 yards with one touchdown and an 83.9 passer rating.
Kendrick Bourne led the 49ers in catches with seven and receiving yards with 71, which were season highs for him in both categories.
Pierre Garcon didn’t play this game due to injury, and it opened up a spot for another member of the receiving corp to assert themselves.
The 49ers run game didn’t give them a lot. They ran the ball 31 times for 107 yards for an average of just 3.5 yards per rush.
Matt Breida ended up playing this game despite being banged up, but only managed 42 yards while leading the team with 16 carries, which was actually the most carries he had gotten in any game up to this point.
Alfred Morris and Raheem Mostert ate up some yards on the handful of touches they got. Morris had 28 yards on six carries, while Mostert had 18 yards on two carries.
49ers Defense Applies Pressure to Rosen
The 49ers defense did a great job at the beginning of the game by consistently providing pressure on Rosen and making him uncomfortable.
The Cardinals got into field goal range with under two minutes remaining in the first half, but Arik Armstead sacked Rosen on third down and knocked the Cardinals out of field goal range, effectively saving three points.
Richard Sherman, Ronald Blair, and Armstead all had sacks, and the team was able to record seven hits in all on Rosen.
Cardinals Offense Comes Alive Late in Fourth Quarter
The Cardinals offense certainly saved their best for crunch time. Rosen finished the game 23/40 for 252 yards, two touchdowns, one interception, and an 82.5 passer rating.
The Cardinals ran the ball 21 times for 88 yards, instead relying on their young quarterback to try to move their offense through the air.
Out of the 20 first downs that the Cardinals collected, 15 of them came from passes, three came on the ground, and two came from penalties.
David Johnson led the Cardinals with 16 carries and 59 rushing yards. He also caught four passes for 41 receiving yards.
Larry Fitzgerald led the Cardinals with eight catches and 102 receiving yards, while Christian Kirk had three catches for 42 yards and the game-winning touchdown.
What This Means for 49ers Going Forward
The 49ers are now 1-7 this season, but a lot of those losses were games that they had a good opportunity to win at the end.
The only game recently that they really had no chance of winning was against the Los Angeles Rams, and the Rams are the best team in the league right now.
That makes it seem like the 49ers on the verge of pulling out some close wins going forward, even if they just fall backwards into a victory or two from other teams coughing up the game.
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