Niners Nation
Jacoby Brissett now has the most completions in an NFL game with 47. That might be the only good thing coming for the Arizona Cardinals after their 41-22 loss to the San Francisco 49ers, but it also might say a lot about the issues the 49ers face going forward.
Despite a few strange balls from Brock Purdy that could have (and probably should have) been intercepted, the offense was humming. The 49ers’ special teams also showed up with an impressive return to start the game—and some mistakes later. So four quarters later, the Cardinals get 22 points while the 49ers run all over them, right?
Well, one problem: the 49ers were kind of just letting Arizona get in their own way.
I don’t mean to be the killjoy here after what was a fun mollywhopping. Still, this game may have said a lot more about the Cardinals, their injuries, and their poor coaching than it has about the 49ers’ offense being back or the 49ers’ future prospects as a dominant team.
Sure, the 49ers offense was efficient, scoring 41 points, but they also only put up 281 yards of total offense. Meanwhile, Brissett throws for over 400 yards and sets an NFL record for completions, while keeping the 49ers from registering a single sack against him.
Yes, he also threw two interceptions. Those interceptions, among other things, were what made this game what it was. What other things? Well, 17 of them were Cardinals penalties, a franchise record and the most from any team in the league this year.
If there weren’t penalties, things like this would have stuck:
Just a reminder: good teams don’t typically do that.
To be fair, on a fourth and one call like that, and a Cardinals running back we’d later know as Bam Knight getting a touchdown, screams something funny was going on at the line of scrimmage. And there was: holding. The touchdown was wiped, and the Cardinals punted.
We all know, as 49ers fans, nine out of 10 times, a holding flag isn’t going to save them there. What you saw was an exception to the rule. Sure, the 49ers defense saved the day on a (sweet) fumble juuuuust before Cardinals tight end Elijah Higgins crossed the goal line, and they did notch those two aforementioned picks, but 400 yards and record-setting completion number may not sit right.
Especially when you consider this: remove the two interceptions and penalties, you’d have a game where the 49ers’ pass rush was getting picked apart every time Brissett dropped back. And unlike Week 3, there were fewer dropped balls this time.
In other words, the 49ers can’t count on this type of game happening often, where they get 45 points anyway, especially in the playoffs. If their offense can keep doing what it did today against a playoff defense, that says a lot. But it’s clear after last week with the Rams and this week with the Cardinals, that depending on the defense is going...
