SANTA CLARA, Calif. — The first game against an NFC West opponent did not go how the Arizona Cardinals hoped it would, as they lost to the San Francisco 49ers 35-16 at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California.
The 49ers jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the second quarter, but the Cardinals showed a lot of fight, pulling within one score of the Niners in the third quarter.
However, Christian McCaffrey, Brock Purdy, and San Francisco were just too much, as they scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter to seal the victory.
Here are the top three takeaways from the game as the Cardinals head into Week Five.
1. The Cardinals show fight and promise
This Cardinals team is showing a lot of grit in the early part of this season, with close losses to the Commanders and Giants (both games they could have won) and then a win over the Dallas Cowboys last week, before Sunday's game against the 49ers.
The team knows the resilience they showed Sunday was great, but not being able to come through with the win stings.
"I just told the guys there I appreciate the fight and the effort," Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon said. "We’ve got to play, you know, cleaner execution-wise, cleaner with our brains to beat that football team. That’s a good football team and give them credit because they did a lot of good things out there today and we just didn’t make enough plays there."
"There’s no moral victories, right? We play to win every single Sunday and when we don’t, we’re upset about it and we look for ways to improve," Cardinals quarterback Josh Dobbs added. "You can’t spot them 14 points and expect to be in the game for four quarters. Obviously, the fight was tremendous, to be able to come back, make it a one-possession game later in the third quarter. And so, when you get into those situations, right, and you’re within striking distance, you have them now on their heels, then you have to take advantage of that momentum, especially on the road."
The fight from the Cardinals this season has shown a lot of promise for what Gannon and Company are building, but it will take time before they are truly competitive. Patience is a virtue and will be needed for fans as the new regime continues to turn the Cardinals around.
2. Michael Wilson's coming-out party
Cardinals rookie wide receiver Michael Wilson returned to the Bay Area, where he played college ball at Stanford and was the star of the game for the Cardinals with two touchdowns, his first scores in the NFL.
Wilson said he knew Sunday was going to go well for him.
"I woke up this morning with a good feeling," Wilson said. "And I don’t know if that’s because I’m playing in a familiar area or sometimes you just wake up knowing something good is going to happen. But yeah, it feels really, really good despite the loss to score my first touchdown, better yet, score two in one game."
Wilson was able to grab his first scores in front of his parents, who drove up from Los Angeles, and his roommate from his freshman year at Stanford, who is still in Palo Alto getting his master's degree.
Wilson continuing his strong play and developing into a top weapon for the Cardinals will help open up this offense, which will only help as the season continues.
3. The Cardinals' defense has room for growth
49ers running back Christian McCaffrey was a problem that the Cardinals did not have a solution for on Sunday as he ran for 106 yards and a career-high four touchdowns, three of which came in the first half, and the Cardinals were very complimentary of 'CMC' after the game.
"He’s very good," Cardinals linebacker Dennis Gardeck said. "I think everybody knows that. He’s exactly what his tape shows."
"He’s a good player, he’s a great player, so, you know, obviously going into the game, you got to figure out how to stop a guy like that and, you know, the good thing about playing the 49ers is we get to play them twice," Cardinals cornerback Marco Wilson added. "So, we’re going to have a better plan coming back next time."
The Cardinals also did not have much of an answer for Valley native and former Perry Puma Brock Purdy and the 49ers pass game, as Purdy completed his first 10 passes and finished with a 95.2% completion rate, which is the highest ever for a 49ers quarterback and the fourth-highest mark in NFL history for a quarterback who threw at least 20 passes in a game.
"We have to learn from it," Gardeck said. "We pride ourselves on continuing to be the same person week in and week out, so we’re going to go in tomorrow, we’re going to clean up the tape, we’re going to learn a ton from this game, get better and get ready for Cincy."
For the Cardinals to stand a chance against Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals next week, the entire defense will have to improve.
Kickoff next Sunday at State Farm Stadium in Glendale is at 1:05 p.m.