Cardinals @ Niners
Final Score: 49ers 16, Cardinals 15
Writer: Matthew Bevins (MattBQBList on Reddit)
The Cardinals and Niners have carried some form of gravitas for quite a while, with an divisional rivalry game always calling to mind some spectacular matchups. Unfortunately, in Sunday’s matchup in Santa Clara, it just seemed as if things were missing. Granted, we didn’t know how good we’d have it with Brock Purdy behind center, as we now sit here and watch the resurgent career spike of Mac Jones.Let’s dive in and see what we can pull from this one.
Three Up
Mac Jones — Jones was a running gag on the tail end of his Patriots tenure, as everyone realized his enjoyment of the game and his act of playing it were almost long since gone. The Niners took him in and have turned him back into someone relatively reliable (in this game, he almost eclipsed 300 yards passing, something in this day’s NFL we don’t see nearly as often as we used to.
Ricky Pearsall — A lot of what made Jones so dominant was his consistent targeting of Pearsall, who found himself on the come-up after a 140-yard game in Week 17 of last year, and a game over 100 yards in Week 1 of this season. While Ricky wasn’t a valuable piece of the offense last week, he more than made up for it Sunday. He was able to reel off over a hundred yards again this week and seems to be the No. 1 wide receiver in this offense.
Christian McCaffrey — This was by no means one of the biggest performances that McCaffrey has shown us. Still, the fact of the matter was, we are another year into the “He’ll be hurt and not keeping up” statement pattern, and after a pre-Week 1 game injury scare, McCaffrey has been the center of this offense for three weeks straight now. Defenses will key on him, and I’m sure he’ll have random games unmentioned where he just isn’t the bell cow, but for now, his Week 1 value is restored and safe.
Three Down
James Conner — Conner is a down member of the week only because he’s down and will remain down for the rest of the season. Conner had some injuries in his career in Pittsburgh, but has been noticeably healthy since his career in Arizona started (sometimes annoyingly so for fans of Trey Benson). That time is over, and it’s now Benson’s turn to figure out if he can mold himself into the pure No. 1 back the Cardinals drafted him to be.
Marvin Harrison — Marv dropped himself in the list as he dropped passes in this game. Kyler Murray rolled and laid up a pass right into the bread basket of Harrison, only to watch Harrison let it bounce off his hands on his way through a soft defensive sighting ahead. While Harrison has at times shown what his value can be, there are so many more situations that have us banging our fists on our computer screens watching him leave another game with under 50 yards and a handful of targets.
Offensive weapons below the No. 2 on the depth chart for either team — This game had absolutely nothing in it for any of the bit parts. Greg Dortch showed up for a couple of targets, but he is basically milk carton fodder. Jajuan Jennings was a late scratch, and even with that in mind, he has only been valuable in one of two games. George Kittle is gone for a bit, and some guy named Tonges is taking his place. Pass.
Arizona Cardinals
Quarterback
Kyler Murray: 22/35, 159 yards, 1 TD | 6 carries, 37 yards
Kyler Murray has his fair share of critics, but he’s definitely not being put in a great space to succeed. While he has the luxury of a top-five tight end in Trey McBride and an upstart smash play in Marvin Harrison Jr., there just doesn’t seem to be enough firepower on this squad to even get them past a Niners team that has about eight injury crosses next to players’ names like in “Madden.” Murray ended up passing 35 times, but couldn’t get on a great page with anyone other than McBride, as he spent a large portion of his passing downs trying to find players early instead of plays making themselves happen. His depth of target was under 5 yards per. Murray salvaged an average showing with almost 40 yards rushing, but couldn’t clear 200 yards passing or a rushing touchdown. On a drive halfway or so into the first half, Murray almost tacked on another passing TD to his game total, but Conner was unable to get the ball into the end zone after quality tightening coverage from Niners linebacker Dee Winters.
Running Back
James Conner: 9 carries, 22 yards | 4 targets, 3 receptions, 15 yards
Trey Benson: 10 carries, 42 yards | 4 targets, 3 receptions, 9 yards
James Conner is one of the most fun running backs to watch in the league, and watching him leave this game with a season-ending knee injury is not something I would ever wish on someone of his caliber. What we can look forward to is the potential to see college standout Trey Benson finally get some time to rush on his own. Benson was thrust into the opportunity unexpectedly and broke off over 4 yards per carry on the ground. Benson saw double the snaps and will be the bell cow going forward. When Benson was starting in college, he was able to stay on the field often and almost surpassed 1,000 yards in back-to-back seasons, so we hope the pedigree is going to help us out here. When on the field and given the ball, Benson keeps his legs churning once he first gets to him, and that little bit may help us get closer to the goal line.
Wide Receiver
Marvin Harrison Jr.: 6 targets, 3 receptions, 44 yards
Trey McBride: 8 targets, 5 receptions, 43 Yards, 1 TD
Zay Jones: 3 targets, 2 receptions, 25 yards
There is Marvin Harrison Jr., there is Trey McBride, and then there is nothing else to come for in this Cardinals offensive scheme. McBride is an absolute weapon who is always in a play or around the ball when it’s passed in his vicinity. In the first half, a ball that Kyler clearly had planted 3 or so yards ahead of McBride was caught with a diving play that helped make a first down out of a lackluster pass. McBride makes this team so much better, and hopefully will help us get more dynamic offensive outputs from Arizona. What we really need to see is some form of consistency and game-breaking work from Harrison, who continues to be an average at best wide receiver after being anointed the best thing since sliced bread out of college. There doesn’t seem to be a desire for separation on routes. He has dropped or misplayed plays, and hasn’t really helped pull off any defensive coverage from others due to his play.
Niners
Quarterback
Mac Jones: 27/41, 286 Yards | 1 carry, -1 yard
Mac Jones has had a tough career start after being one of the three lads in the Alabama quarterback room that included Jalen Hurts, Tua Tagovailoa, and him. Unceremoniously leaving the Jaguars after a tough go in New England, the preseason probably had many not knowing where or if Jones was still even in the league. Just two weeks into watching him start in San Francisco, it seems as if he may not be the quarterback we thought he was after all. Jones has found himself a good-luck charm in Christian McCaffrey, but has also had a pretty solid foundation made by himself in his playmaking. Jones had less time than Murray to get the ball out, and was able to use McCaffrey to the tune of 15 targets, and made a best buddy with Ricky Pearsall, and the rest was history. While the game ended up close, it’s nice to see that when the offense is healthier and may still need Jones later in the season, this team is not done for. Between the coaching of Kyle Shanahan and the abilities of McCaffrey, this could have a long leash on it.
Running Back
Christian McCaffrey: 17 carries, 52 yards | 15 targets, 10 receptions, 88 yards
Brian Robinson: 2 carries, 22 yards
Feels like we heard just about everything about this running back committee before we got into the season, doesn’t it? Brian Robinson came over from the Commanders after an unceremonious offseason where he outright told them he’d played his last down in Washington. The Niners brought him in, not returning him a new contract, and yet everyone was so certain McCaffrey was seeing the end. Now, just weeks into it, we’re again seeing another game of 100-plus all-purpose yards from McCaffrey. Quite possibly the best dual-purpose running back we’ve seen in two decades, McCaffrey finds a way to make defenders sit back, unsure of just what moves he may end up making. McCaffrey had almost as many receiving targets as he had rushes Sunday, proving that he is the top dog in this offense and will be until his likely retirement. Robinson came in to break off 22 yards on two touches, but there’s nothing to show any chance of a dual-RB attack unless they lose another receiver or two.
Wide Receiver
Ricky Pearsall: 11 targets, 8 receptions, 117 yards
Kendrick Bourne: 6 targets, 4 receptions, 38 yards
Jake Tonges: 3 targets, 2 receptions, 21 yards
The receiver room is broken with no sign of Jajuan Jennings and George Kittle on the mend, so the team is relying more on smoke and mirrors than ever these days. Ricky Pearsall returned to the limelight with an impressive showing, hovering in and around a huge portion of plays. McCaffrey received a large portion of receiving plays coming from behind the line of scrimmage, but what really helped amplify this team to the win is the usage of Pearsall and his ability to show up in situations that would usually require an anointed WR1. Pearsall is going to come and take this job before Jennings and Kittle return, and has impressive potential to keep himself within the top 15 WRs in the league for the year remaining.