Studs/Duds From Cardinals Week 4 Loss vs 49ers

There was a mixed bag of individual performances in the Arizona Cardinals' loss Sunday afternoon: who stood out?

The Arizona Cardinals fought gallantly against the heavily favored San Fransisco 49ers, but eventually fell 35-16. The Niners jumped out to a 21-3 lead early in the game, flexing their talent advantage and ability to dictate the game in the trenches. 

The Cardinals refused to be held down despite being down 18, however. Some savvy play calling from Drew Petzing and marvelous playmaking from Joshua Dobbs had the Cardinals down five in the third quarter. 

Unfortunately, the talent gap showed out in a huge way once again to close the game, but the Cardinals quite possibly played San Francisco tougher than anyone else this season, perhaps saving the L.A. Rams.

Now to the individual talent. 

There was a lot of strong and not-so-strong contributions individually in a game that played out in such a fashion. In the upcoming piece we will highlight three "studs" and "duds" from the game.

Stud: Joshua Dobbs

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Dobbs possibly had the most impressive outing of the four starts made for Arizona thus far. The University of Tennessee product threw for 265 yards, ran for 48 more, and orchestrated a 99-yard drive on potentially the best defense in football.

Dobbs showed immense poise, pocket presence, and strong decision making in the face of a ferocious Niners pass rush. Dobbs has been possibly the most pleasant surprise among the NFL in general this season, and certainly has inspired confidence in the Cardinals.

Dud: Zach Ertz

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Ertz had a solid enough day from a box-score perspective. The issue today was the usually sure-handed tight end had a couple of uncharacteristic drops in big moments. Ertz also isn't an especially great blocker, so the drops and average blocking made the Stanford product one of the big disappointments of the day.

Stud: Michael Wilson

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Michael Wilson looks like one of the early steals of the 2023 draft. The rookie had a huge momentum-shifting 33 yard catch and also hauled in both touchdowns the Cardinals scored on Sunday. It's undeniable how impressive this performance was for a rookie against a staunch defense.

Dud: Marco Wilson

Wilson had another rough week. Much of the former Florida Gator's day was characterized by lapsed coverage and untimely penalties. Wilson's talent is still tantalizing, but two rough weeks in a row aren't encouraging for the third-year pro.

Stud: Dennis Gardeck

Gardeck is mostly known for being a great special teamer. This year the sixth year pro and team captain has been extremely impressive off the edge. Gardeck amassed the only sack of the game for the Cardinals and seemingly was often being disruptive in the backfield. 

Dud: Jalen Thomson

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The fifth-year pro has frequently been tabbed as one of the most underrated safeties in football. Today was a rough day for the uber-talented safety unfortunately. He frequently got burned in the center-field role by Brandon Aiyuk and allowed too many chunk plays.