49ERS WIN NAIL BITER OVER CARDINALS 23-20

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U of Phoenix stadium, Glendale , AZ - For the second game in a row the San Francisco 49ers had to pull off some last minute heroics to win ! Last week it was against the Atlanta Falcons and on this Sunday it was the tough Arizona Cardinals at home . Although the Niners game out of the gate like world beaters their coaching missteps t made the game close until the very last seconds !





In the first quarter after the Niners shut down the Cardinals first drive, things immediately went their way on the offense. Mixing the play calls the Niners went on a drive that included an 11 yard run by Anquan Boldin , a Quinton Patton run of 26 yards and formations that confused the Arizona defense. Yet the Niners couldn't put it in the end zone and had to settle for a Phil Dawson field goal from 27 yards out.

Anquan Boldin

Quinton Patton

Phil Dawson

It didn't take long for  San Francisco to get the ball back. On the Cardinals second offensive drive of the game Carson Palmer threw an ill advised pass that was intercepted by Navorro Bowman. With a short field Colin Kaepernick directed a quick drive that culminated with a 4 yard touchdown strike to Anquan Boldin. This put the score at 10-0 in favor of the 49ers. The defense held and the Niner offense went to work again. Kaepernick tossed a short pass to the right that Boldin caught and turned into a 63 yard gain that put the ball near the Cardinal goal line. Vernon Davis caught a 3 yard pass for another touchdown. The score was now 17-0 and it was still only the first quarter. The Cardinal defense seemed caught off guard by the 49er offensive play calls.

Carson Palmer

Navorro Bowman

Colin Kaepernick

For the Niner offense , the second quarter was a bust. They went on three drives which resulted in no points. Arizona was let back in the game when Carson Palmer directed a long drive that resulted in a 1 yard touchdown pass to Jake Ballard that put the score at 17-7 at the half. It didn't help that Phil Dawson missed a chip shot field goal from 24 yards out wide left. What started out as a blowout settled into a typical Niner game of late. Give the other guys a chance !

Vernon Davis

Jake Ballard

Jay Feely

For both teams the third quarter was a wash ! Once again the Niner offense had three drives that only produced air ! Arizona matched the 49ers in this regard. The score at the end of the quarter remained 17-7 in favor of the Niners. The offense was ice cold and the defense hadn't been able to put a dent in the pocket protection for Carson Palmer. The situation was similar to the Falcon's game. 

Michael Floyd

Larry Fitzgerald

Eric Reid

The 49er defense did its mightiest to lose the game to Arizona in the fourth quarter. All at once Carson Palmer started to shred the Niner secondary. Receivers Michael Floyd and Larry Fitzgerald victimized Eric Reid and Tramaine Brock. The first Cardinal score came on a Jay Feely 49 yard field goal. Then Palmer hit Andre Roberts with a 34 yard bomb for a touchdown that tied the game at 17-17. Roberts was covered by Brock who just watched instead of  reacting in the end zone ! 

Tramaine Brock

Andre Roberts

Bruce Arians

The game was reduced to a duel between the kickers, Dawson for the 49ers and Feely for the Cardinals. Dawson had missed a second quarter field goal and Feely had missed two . Struggling on offense the Niners managed to go ahead with 1:45 on the game clock , on a 56 yard Dawson field goal , 20-17. Then with only 29 seconds to go Feely tied the game up again on a 43 yard field goal. The Niner defense was experiencing a fourth quarter breakdown for the second straight game !  Desperate , the Niner offense had one more slim chance. They still had two time outs left and less than 30 seconds of game clock to go when they received the kickoff.

Kaepernick hit Boldin with a pass for an 11 yard gain and a big first down. Boldin immediately called a time out . The Niners drew a " delay of game " penalty that pushed them back out of field goal range. This was another manifestation of their clock management problems. Then Kaepernick dropped back , was pressured and threw a 29 yard pass to Quinton Patton , who made a circus catch on the right sidelines . He didn't realize at first that the game clock was still running and the Niners managed to use their last time out to stop the clock. There was only two seconds left ! On the next play the ball was placed down and Dawson booted it between the uprights from 40 yards out to win the game !






For the second game in a row the San Francisco 49er defensive secondary was shredded by a struggling quarterback ! Palmer , who has almost no mobility was only sacked once ! In the second half the Niner secondary was abused by Larry Fitzgerald , who finished with 6 catches for 113 yards and Michael Floyd who had 6 catches for 91 yards. Niner safety Eric Reid was schooled as was corner Tramaine Brock. Palmer put up big numbers . He went 28/49 for 407 yards and two touchdowns. His interception in the first quarter didn't lose the game. The Cardinals offense had 482 total yards !

 

Vic Fangio

Jim Harbaugh

Greg Roman

Cardinal coach Bruce Arians put Vic Fangio's defensive schemes to the test by going for it on fourth down five times. Arizona was successful four times ! This put big pressure on the 49er defensive front line. Once again the Niner " prevent defense " didn't prevent anything in the fourth quarter ! The 49er defense played like they were totally gassed out !


The 49ers won the game only because of the talent of Anquan Boldin, Vernon Davis , Colin Kaepernick, Phil Dawson and last but not least , Quinton Patton ! They were victorious in spite of the " prevent offense " offense of Greg Roman and Jim Harbaugh. On the Niners first touchdown Boldin made a great leaping catch in right corner of the end zone and Quinton Patton's sideline catch was a highlight reel special. Falling backwards he managed plant his feet in bounds before tumbling completely over and out ! Kaepernick missed some easy throws but didn't turn the ball over ! He went 21/34 with 310 yards and two touchdowns. Anquan Boldin had 9 catches for 149 yards and one touchdown.


 
That Jim Harbaugh will still be the 49er coach after this season is not cast in stone ! he has to go deep in the playoffs. He was out coached in this game by Bruce Arians. The offense was going great guns in the first half and then in the second half the Niners went conservative ! Now , its do or die time ! Arians , with his team's season on the line pulled out all the stops , going for it on fourth down. He didn't cave in ! He had his team play to win ! Harbaugh and his coaching staff has his team playing not to lose ! The talent on the 49er roster is transcending the coaching. These last two games are evidence of that ! On to Green Bay !

This article is dedicated to all the johnny come lately millionaire residents of San Francisco who aren't natives of the City. They have made me and thousands of other working class folks financial exiles ! We also can't afford to live in the San Francisco bay area city of Santa Clara ! That is the real plan folks. From this point on only those with deep pockets will be able to watch the San Francisco 49ers in person. Its mortgage your future for a season ticket or feed your family . Eventually the NFL will kill the golden goose !

BarryRodriguez (c) 2013. All Rights Reserved.

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