Again, the San Francisco 49ers let a seemingly comfortable lead against an NFC West opponent slip away.
The Arizona Cardinals came back from a 13-point deficit to capitalize on the 49ers’ mistakes for a 24-23 upset victory on Sunday at Levi’s Stadium.
Just five games into the 2024 NFL season, the 49ers might be showing signs that their season could be spiraling downhill, too.
The Cardinals’ winning points were made possible when Jordan Mason fumbled with 6:11 remaining as the 49ers appeared to be closing in for a possible game-clinching touchdown. Mason fumbled at the Arizona 9-yard line.
Then, Mason appeared to miss a blitz pickup that forced quarterback Brock Purdy into an interception on the 49ers’ final chance.
Sure, there are a lot of games to be played, but there is no underestimating the devastation of their losses to the Los Angeles Rams and Cardinals — after holding double-digit second-half leads in both games.
And it does not get any easier. The 49ers have a quick turnaround before traveling to the Pacific Northwest to face the division-leading Seattle Seahawks on Thursday.
The Cardinals seemed to get stronger during the hottest game day in Levi’s Stadium history. Perhaps more accurate, the 49ers wore down to a considerable degree.
Here are the takeaways from Sunday’s Week 5 game against the Cardinals:
Special Teams Ups and Downs
The 49ers could not enjoy their best special-teams play of the season for very long.
For a change, the 49ers came up with a big play on special teams that turned the game in their favor.
But a short time later, they lost kicker Jake Moody to a right ankle injury that might have long-term consequences.
Moody sustained the injury when his right leg bent awkwardly under him as he got into the mix for a tackle on a kickoff. He hopped off the field under his own power. But shortly thereafter, a cart took him from the 49ers’ sideline back to the locker room area for further observation.
The results of X-rays were not immediately known, but the 49ers announced at the beginning of the third quarter that Moody would not return to the game — an ominous sign for the future.
Moody was injured on the kickoff after the 49ers scored a touchdown on a blocked punt for the first time in 15 years.
Jordan Elliott blocked Chad Ryland’s 45-yard field goal attempt. Deommodore Lenoir scooped it up and returned it 61 yards for a touchdown. The play gave the 49ers a 20-10 lead with five minutes remaining in the first half.
The last time the 49ers returned a blocked field goal for a touchdown was Sept. 27, 2009, when Ray McDonald blocked a kick at Minnesota and Nate Clements returned it 59 yards for a score.
Punter Mitch Wishnowsky took over as the 49ers’ kicker and made a 26-yard field on the final play of the first half to give the 49ers a 23-10 lead.
Tough Task Defending Murray
It looked as if might be one of those days.
On the second play of the game, Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray kept the ball on a read option and took it 50 yards for the touchdown.
Nick Bosa and Fred Warner crashed down, cornerback Charvarius Ward and linebacker De’Vondre Campbell got blocked on the right side, and Murray had a huge opening.
In a Ruthian moment, Murray called his shot, as he pointed to the end zone when he was still 43 yards away from the goal line.
The 49ers’ defense figured things out for a little while after Arizona’s two-play, 72-yard scoring “drive” that lasted all of 47 seconds.
But Murray made enough plays with his arm and his legs to keep the Cardinals in the game after the 49ers took a 23-10 lead at halftime.
Murray rushed for 86 yards on 19 attempts, while also completing 19 of 30 passes for 195 yards with one touchdowns and one interception.
He led the Cardinals down the field for the winning points, which came on kicker Chad Ryland’s 35-yard field goal with 1:37 remaining.
After signing his lucrative contract extension 10 days before the opening game of the season, wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk had 13 receptions for 167 yards in the 49ers’ first four games.
On Sunday, he started to show why the 49ers made the investment.
Aiyuk had eight catches for 147 yards, accounting for most of the 49ers’ offense in the passing game. Purdy completed 19 of 35 pass attempts for 244 yards and one touchdown with two interceptions.
Aiyuk had a 53-yard reception on the 49ers’ second drive of the game, which included a nifty move at the sideline and a sizable number of yards after the catch.
Purdy and Aiyuk later hooked up for a 16-yard pass on a third-and-6 play to keep a drive alive. Purdy hit tight end George Kittle for a 4-yard touchdown to end that series and give the 49ers a 10-7 lead in the first quarter.
Through four games, Deebo Samuel and Jauan Jennings had their days. In Week 5, it finally was Aiyuk’s turn to become the No. 1 option in the passing game.
Aiyuk’s slow start was completely understandable, considering he did not take part in the offseason program and skipped all practices during training camp while his contract status remained unresolved.
Aiyuk eventually signed a five-year, $134.1 million contract that stretches through the 2028 season.
