Instant Grades: Cardinals Pull Off Massive Upset

The Arizona Cardinals fought the whole way through and it ended up being just enough at the very end to come away with a win.

Oct 6, 2024; Santa Clara, California, USA; Arizona Cardinals kicker Chad Ryland (38) follows the ball on a field goal against the San Francisco 49ers during the fourth quarter at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-Imagn Images / Kelley L Cox-Imagn Images

Coming off a rough loss at home to the Washington Commanders last week, the Arizona Cardinals certainly played a better game in Santa Clara.

Apparently, just better enough to come away with a surprise win over their divisional opponent in the San Francisco 49ers.

Offensively, there were some bright spots but also plenty of missed opportunities and simple mistakes. The defense continues to struggle, which in this case against a good San Francisco squad was not particularly surprising.

Still, the team showed a level of fight that was completely missing last week and it turned out to be the critical factor leading to a nice divisional upset.

Instant grades:

Offense

Quarterback - B+

Oct 6, 2024; Santa Clara, California, USA; Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray (1) throws a pass against the San Francisco 49ers during the second quarter at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images / Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

It wasn't always pretty for Kyler Murray, but he did enough in the right moments to allow his team to emerge with a victory.

He started the game with the longest rushing touchdown of his career, a 50-yarder. The clip of this TD run will be replayed for a while as he started to point toward the end zone and call a score all the way back at the 40-yard line.

Overall, Murray's legs played a massive role in the game this afternoon and he ended with one of his best rushing stat lines in quite a while, 83 yards and a score.

Through the air, it was not a perfect game but he did what was needed when it was needed for the most part. The most glaring error was a bad screen pass that ended up in the hand of DE Nick Bosa and looked like it might be a dagger. Thankfully, that was not the case.

Yes, it was not anywhere close to the Rams performance but Murray finished with 63.3% completion rate and 195 yards with 1 passing touchdown.

Offensive Line - B-

Dec 17, 2023; Glendale, Arizona, USA; San Francisco 49ers defensive end Nick Bosa (97) works against Arizona Cardinals offensive tackle Paris Johnson Jr. (70) during the second half at State Farm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images / Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images

After a fairly abysmal performance last week, the offensive line was a shocking bright spot in this game. They provided good, consistent protection for Murray with only a few glaring mistakes.

Kelvin Beachum, minus his play in the Bills game, has once again proven to be a fairly reliable swing tackle taking the spot that belongs to Jonah Williams who seems unlikely to return this season.

Paris Johnson,Jr. by the eye-test and the analytics, looks to be one of the top left tackles in the league and looks to be a stellar draft pick and franchise tackle of the future.

Elite RG Will Hernandez had his leg rolled up on by Nick Bosa in the fourth quarter. Looked to be a bad injury and won't be surprised if it is a season-ending event, but the extent of the injury is not known yet.

Running Back - B+

Oct 6, 2024; Santa Clara, California, USA; Arizona Cardinals running back James Conner (6) during warm ups before the game against the San Francisco 49ers at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-Imagn Images / Kelley L Cox-Imagn Images

The 49ers defense would not allow James Conner to get going and that in turn severely impacted the ability of the offense as a whole to get into a sustainable rhythm in the first half.

Something clicked though after halftime and Conner came back in a big way, barreling his way through defenders in the style that Cardinals fans have become accustomed to.

Conner fought hard to finish with 86 yards against a stout 49ers run defense, but his most important contribution came with a two-point conversion late in the fourth quarter that put the Cardinals within two points, setting up the opportunity for a game-winning field goal.

Rookie Trey Benson was also noticeablly absent from the game plan this week.

Tight End - B

Oct 6, 2024; Santa Clara, California, USA; Arizona Cardinals tight end Trey McBride (85) before the game against the San Francisco 49ers at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-Imagn Images / Kelley L Cox-Imagn Images

Trey McBride continues to be a safety blanket for Murray and it seemed clear that Murray was happy to have him back in the lineup. He looked his way 9 times and he ended the day with 6 receptions and 53 yards.

Still, McBride wasn't without his errors including a crucial should-have-been touchdown in the first quarter where he just could not maintain position of the ball all the way to the ground. Points that the Cardinals could have desperately used in their efforts to keep pace with the 49ers.

Third round selection Tip Reiman has been active in the blocking game all year, but he did rack up his first professional reception for a short 5 yard gain.

Wide Receiver - B-

Sep 29, 2024; Glendale, Arizona, USA; Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Michael Wilson (14) looks on prior to the game Washington Commanders at State Farm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-Imagn Images / Matt Kartozian-Imagn Images

Marvin Harrison Jr. was definitely a big part of the game plan today, but there are still moments of critical miscommunication between him and his quarterback.

Fans were rewarded with a couple of nice back-shoulder throws to the rookie wide receiver, but San Francisco game planned well for the standout receiver and he ended with a fairly unimpressive stat line of only 36 yards on two receptions. The most concerning aspect of this was that the two receptions came from a total of 7 targets.

The true standout today in the wide receiver room was Michael Wilson who came down with important balls several times this afternoon. He was targeted 6 times and came down with the ball 5 times contributing 78 receiving yards. Several of these were on critical downs as well.

Defense

Defensive Line - C

Dec 31, 2023; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Arizona Cardinals defensive tackle Naquan Jones (96) against the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images / Eric Hartline-Imagn Images

Jordan Mason did not find much competition today from the Cardinals defensive line. Neither did QB Brock Purdy feel much pressure coming from this position group.

Naquan Jones was the only defensive linemen who finally hit home and sacked Purdy late in the 3rd quarter leading to a turnover on downs that sparked some hope for Cardinals fans.

FA addition Bilal Nichols was injured early in the first quarter and now joins an extremely long list of injured Cardinals defensive players. The extent of his injury is not known at this point.

Linebackers - A+

Arizona Cardinals Kyzir White (7) chats with teammate Budda Baker (3) during training camp at State Farm Stadium on Aug 6, 2024, in Glendale, Ariz. / Joe Rondone/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK

Once again, the linebacker room proved the most consistent on the defensive side of the ball for the Cardinals.

Zaven Collins has a great nose for the run and had a tackle for loss, Kyzir White was a bit quieter than usual (till the last play of the game that is), but Mack Wilson, Sr. came to play yet again.

His interception of Purdy in the third quarter was one of the defensive bright spots of the afternoon and he continues to solidify his position as best offseason addition for the defense. He also recovered a fumble caused by fellow linebacker Jesse Luketa deep in Cardinals territory late in the 4th, giving the offense another chance to take the lead.

Of course, the biggest linebacker play of the game was the game-sealing interception by Kyzir White after kicker Chad Ryland had given the Cardinals a slim one-point lead with a minute and half of game time left.

Secondary - C+

Arizona Cardinals safety Budda Baker (3) plays catch with fans during training camp at State Farm Stadium in Glendale on July 28, 2024. / Joe Rondone/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK

Free agent addition Sean Murphy-Bunting played another uninspiring game. He did not have any massive penalties, this week but #23 seemed to be in the frame nearly every time a 49ers wide receiver had an impressive play.

The other cornerbacks on the field, Max Melton and Kei'Trel Clark did not have impressive outings either, allowing Purdy several deep shots and allowing a struggling Brandon Aiyuk to have a good bounce back game and get into a dangerous rhythm.

Rookie backup Dadrion Tayler-Demerson had some significant playing time and made some important stops and a great open field tackle of George Kittle in the fourth quarter.

Budda Baker continues to be excellent, but it was fellow safety Jalen Thompson had a good game with a couple important pass breakups and it was his blitz with roughly a minute left in the game that forced an errant pass from Purdy that ended up in the hands of White and sealed an upset win for the Cardinals.

Chad Ryland - A

Oct 6, 2024; Santa Clara, California, USA; Arizona Cardinals kicker Chad Ryland (38) kicks a field goal against the San Francisco 49ers with a hold by Blake Fillikin (12) during the fourth quarter at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-Imagn Images / Kelley L Cox-Imagn Images

You might not be Matt Prater, but you were just enough at the just the right time.

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