SANTA CLARA, Calif. — After Sunday Night Football on NBC, catch your Cardinals Locker Room on 12 News with Chierstin Susel and Ryan Cody for exclusive interviews and content following the win against San Francisco
The Arizona Cardinals defeated the San Francisco 49ers Sunday in Santa Clara 24-20 to begin the season 1-0.
Things looked bleak for the Cardinals early on. After a 49ers field goal and defensive stop, Jimmy Garoppolo found running back Raheem Mostert for a 76-yard touchdowns and it was quickly 10-0 49ers.
The Cardinals gave the ball back to San Francisco but a defensive stop led to a punt, which was blocked by Arizona’s Ezekiel Taylor, setting up the Cardinals on the San Francisco 10-yard line.
Kyler Murray found Chase Edmonds on a flat and Edmonds hit the pylon to make it 10-7.
The 49ers would add another field goal to make it 13-7. Just before the half, the Cardinals were able to set up a 56-yard attempt for Zane Gonzalez thanks to Larry Fitzgerald playing heads up football and getting the ball to the ref just in time for a spike. Gonzalez nailed his career-high field goal to make it 13-10 at the half.
It wasn’t until the fourth quarter that a team would tack another one on and it was Kyler Murray, running for a 22-yard touchdown to give the Cardinals a 17-13 lead with just over 10 minutes to play.
A Jordan Hicks pass interference call on the ensuing drive set the 49ers up on the Cardinals 10-yard line, leading to a Jimmy Garoppolo touchdown pass to Jerick McKinnon to give the 49ers a 20-17 lead with 8:38 left in the game.
On the following drive, on 3rd down and 6, Murray found a wide-open DeAndre Hopkins for a 33-yard gain that brought Arizona to the 1-yard line and Kenyan Drake punched it in to give Arizona a 24-20 lead with 5:03 left in the game.
The Cardinals defense held strong to seal the win for Arizona.
The story for the Cardinals defense? Third down defense. The 49ers at one point in the game were 0-7 on third down. The 49ers finished 2 for 11 on third down in the game.
Kyler Murray finished 26-for-40 with 230 yards, 1 touchdown and 1 interception. He also added 95 yards rushing on 12 carries with a touchdown.
DeAndre Hopkins caught a career-high 14 passes for 151 yards. Kenyan Drake added 60 yards rushing a touchdown.
Worth noting
DeAndre Hopkins now has 5+ catches in 19 consecutive games, extending the longest active streak in the NFL.
Chandler Jones has at least one sack in all five season-openers he has at least one sack in 43 of 65 games with Arizona.
The Cardinals are home next week against the Washington Football Team, which upset the Philadelphia Eagles Sunday 27-17.
After Sunday Night Football on NBC, catch your Cardinals Locker Room on 12 News with Chierstin Susel and Ryan Cody for exclusive interviews and content following the win against San Francisco
