Sloppy Play Halts Cardinals Comeback in Loss to 49ers

NFL News - September 14th, 2009 - Written by Scott

On Sunday, the Arizona Cardinals looked like they did all preseason after going 0-4 and were handed a stunning loss at home by the San Fransisco 49ers 20-16. The loss by the Cardinals marks their first to an NFC team in two years. Arizona did not look anything like the team that made it to the Super Bowl last year. Offensively, the Cardinals looked out of sync for much of the game, despite rallying back from a 10 point lead by the 49ers to go ahead 16-13 with 14:52 left in the game.

"We're just not meshing," said Kurt Warner, "We never seem to get into a rhythm. There always seems to be something to stop us."

San Fransisco quarterback Shaun Hill's touchdown pass to Frank Gore with 7:29 remaining put the 49ers ahead for good. The Cardinals did what they had to do defensively, holding the 49ers to just 203 total yards and limiting Gore to 30 yards on 22 rushing attempts. Penalties and mistakes were what limited the Cardinals all afternoon.

"The one thing I want to say for us is that you can't have penalties, you can't have mistakes and expect to win," Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt said.

The offense of the Cardinals had a chance to win it after getting the ball on the 38 yard line with 3:11 left to play. The situation looked promising, as Cardinal quarterback Kurt Warner has eleven 4th quarter game winning drives under his belt. Instead, they went backwards. To start the drive, two penalties left the Cards looking at 1st and 25. On fourth down of the drive, Warner was crushed by Justin Smith on his pass attempt that resulted in an incompletion with 1:51 left to play. The Cardinals got it back one more time, but Warner fumbled to give the 49ers the win.

"I'm really most upset by getting the ball back in the fourth quarter in the plus territory and going back 15 yards," Whisenhunt said. "That's horrible. That's unacceptable, and it's what causes you to lose football games. I said to the team afterward, guys that make penalties are not going to play."

For the 49ers, Hill looked steady as he threw for 209 yards on 18-31 passing and 1 touchdown. Their defense kept the Cardinals star wide receivers Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin quiet the entire game, despite giving up a 5 yard touchdown pass to Fitzgerald. This was the first time in seven games that Fitzgerald was held under 100 yards receiving. Arizona running back Tim Hightower was the lone star for the Cardinals as he was their leading receiver with 121 yards. Arizona will look to get their first win next Sunday as they travel to play Jacksonville, also 0-1, after their loss to Indianapolis on Sunday.

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