49ers vs. Cardinals Week 18 Live Blog
SANTA CLARA -- This is the live blog of the San Francisco 49ers' regular season finale against the Arizona Cardinals. I will update this frequently with information and analysis from the press box.
11:50 The Giants are sitting their starting quarterback, Daniel Jones, and playing practice squad quarterback Davis Webb this afternoon when they face Philadelphia, which means they most likely will lose. And that means the 49ers most likely won't get the No. 1 seed. It's too bad that the NFL allows teams to rest starters. It's also too bad that the 49ers lost to three bad teams -- the Bears, the Broncos and the Falcons. Had the 49ers taken care of business early in the season, they'd have a bye next week.
11:52 I'm curious to see if the 49ers defense plays up to its standard today, because it hasn't since the team clinched the division title in Seattle. The past two games, the 49ers have given up 54 points, despite facing Taylor Heinicke and Jarrett Stidham. Last week, the 49ers gave up 135 rushing yards -- the most they'd given up since Week 7. It seems like the defense has taken its foot off the gas just before the playoffs, which is understandable. But they're going to have to turn it on next week, which might be tough to do if they take off three straight games. I'd like to see them play harder than last week and put away a bad Cardinals team playing its third-string quarterback -- David Blough.
11:57 Here are the 49ers inactives: Dre Greenlaw, Aaron Banks, Drake Jackson, Ambry Thomas, Ross Dwelley, Kevin Givens and Jimmy Garoppolo.
11:58 Here are the Cardinals inactives: James Conner, DeAndre Hopkins, Colt McCoy, Marco Wilson, Zaven Collins, Antonio Hamilton, Lecitus Smith, Robbie Anderson and Zach Allen.
1:25 The 49ers win the toss and defer. The Cardinals will receive the opening kickoff.
FIRST QUARTER
1:27 On the second play of the game, 2nd and 7 from the Cardinals 23, David Blough hands off to Pharoah Cooper, who throws the ball back to Blough, who launches it downfield to A.J. Green, who catches the ball over Deommodore Lenoir, who falls, gets back up and misses a tackle as Green scores. Embarrassing. At least the Cardinals missed the extra point.
49ers 0, Cardinals 6.
1:33 On 3rd and 4 from the Cardinals 21, Brock Purdy completes a screen pass to Christian McCaffrey, who scores. That was easy. The Cardinals defense put up little to no resistance.
49ers 7, Cardinals 6.
1:39 On 3rd and 7 from the Cardinals 28, Samson Ebukam sacks David Blough, and the Cardinals go 3 and out. After the punt, the 49ers take over at their 38.
1:44 On 2nd and 9 from the 49ers 39, J.J. Watt beats Spencer Burford to sack Brock Purdy for a six-yard loss. Next play, Brandon Aiyuk nearly makes a diving first-down grab over the middle, but the ball hits the grass. The pass sank at the end. After the punt, the Cardinals take over at their 30.
1:45 Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles has a neck injury and his return is questionable.
1:50 On 4th and 1 from the Cardinals 39, David Blough attempts a quarterback sneak, gains no yards and turns it over on downs.
1:53 On 3rd and 12 from the Cardinals 41, Purdy spins away from unblocked pressure up the middle, sprints to his left, gets chased down, loses 17 yards and knocks the 49ers out of field goal range. Rough play. Terrible pass protection so far. After the punt, the Cardinals take over at their 26.
1:59 On 3rd and 9 from the Cardinals 27, Azeez Al-Shaair blitzes and forces Blough to scramble out of the pocket and flip the ball to running back Corey Clement, who gains 5 yards, and Arizona goes three and out. After the punt, the 49ers take over at their 30.
SECOND QUARTER
2:09 On 2nd and 10 from the Cardinals 44, Purdy runs for an 8-yard loss after missing a handoff to Elijah Mitchell. Next play, Purdy scrambles to his left and takes a hit as he throws pass that gets batted down near the sideline. The 49ers offense is stuck in neutral. After the punt, Arizona takes over at its 13.
2:12 First play for the Cardinals, Tashaun Gipson picks off David Blough and returns the ball to the Cardinals 18.
2:15 On 1st and goal from the 5, Elijah Mitchell rumbles into the end zone for the touchdown.
49ers 14, Cardinals 6.
2:28 On 2nd and goal from the 1, Corey Clement powers into the end zone for the touchdown. The Cardinals converted on 3rd and 11 and on 3rd and 14 during that drive. They also ran a couple plays from a Wildcat formation and had success. That was a 12-play, 75-yard, 7:20 drive.
49ers 14, Cardinals 13.
2:49 On 2nd and goal from the 4, Purdy calmly throws a touchdown pass to George Kittle in the back left corner of the end zone with 19 seconds left in the first half. That was an absolute dime.
49ers 21, Cardinals 13.
THIRD QUARTER
3:10 On 2nd and 10 from the Cardinals 43, Elijah Mitchell catches a backward pass and runs up the right sideline for 37 yards. Next play, he scores from six yards out. What a special player.
49ers 28, Cardinals 13.
3:16 I really like how Brock Purdy can change his arm slot and release point with pressure in his face and still throw accurately.
3:17 On 3rd and 10 from the Cardinals 15, Blough throws the ball as far as he can and gets intercepted by Tashaun Gipson. No Cardinals receivers were in the area. The 49ers offense takes over at the Arizona 34.
3:22 On 3rd and 4 from the Cardinals 6, Spencer Burford gives up his second sack of the game. Next play, Robbie Gould makes a 27-yard field goal. The 49ers offense has been up and down in this game, and they already have 31 points. Impressive.
49ers 31, Cardinals 13.
3:29 On 2nd and 9 from the Cardinals 30, Blough scrambles to his left, gets sacked by Jordan Willis, who strips the ball from him and the 49ers recover at the Arizona 28. This game is over.
3:32 on 3rd and 2 from the Arizona 20, Purdy throws sidearm off his back foot with pressure in his face and nails George Kittle over the middle for 15 yards. Beautiful throw. Two plays later, Purdy throws another dime to Kittle in the end zone for a touchdown. It's amazing how Purdy has turned Kittle into a red-zone threat.
49ers 38, Cardinals 13.
FOURTH QUARTER
3:51 Trace McSorely replaces Blough at quarterback, and on 4th and 5 from the 49ers 31, McSorely throws a checkdown pass for a loss of 3. Deommodore Lenoir made the tackle.
3:56 The 49ers pull their starters, insert Josh Johnson at quarterback, handoff three straight times to Mason and punt. After the punt, the Cardinals take over at their 12.
4:20 49ers win. Stay tuned for their grades.
