49ers vs. Cardinals: San Francisco Grades, Notes and Quotes
The San Francisco 49ers had zero business winning their Week 3 NFC West showdown with the Arizona Cardinals.
And it showed from the 49ers' opening offensive drive.
Quarterback Colin Kaepernick threw his first of four interceptions during the game. The first pick was returned for a touchdown by Cardinals' cornerback Justin Bethel. Kaepernick tossed another pick-six on the subsequent offensive possession.
The 49ers gave up a total of 446 yards en route to the 47-7 rout.
As was the case in Week 2 against the Pittsburgh Steelers, San Francisco's secondary was picked apart time and time again. This time, it was the combination of Arizona quarterback Carson Palmer and wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald.
Fitzgerald had a 139 receiving yards on nine receptions and posted two touchdowns during the process. As was the case with Steelers wideout Antonio Brown a week ago, the 49ers had zero answers for Fitzgerald.
Meanwhile, Kaepernick and the offense could only muster a mere 156 yards.
The 49ers drop to 1-2 and have allowed 90 points over the last two contests. San Francisco is looking nothing like the team which showed such a strong effort in Week 1 against the Minnesota Vikings.
So let's break down the 49ers' efforts, what went wrong and where the team goes from here.
Position Grades for 49ers
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| Position | Grade |
| QB | F |
| RB | D |
| WR | F |
| TE | D+ |
| OL | C+ |
| DL | D- |
| LB | D- |
| DB | F |
| Special Teams | C |
| Coaching | D |
Unlike last week in Pittsburgh, quarterback Colin Kaepernick was not a lone bright spot in yet another embarrassing losing effort.
Kaepernick's four interceptions—two of which were returned for first-quarter touchdowns—are the low points of a forgettable performance. San Francisco's signal-caller passed for just 67 yards and had a passer rating of just 16.7.
Similar to Week 2, Kaepernick didn't get much help from his offensive line, although this unit wasn't the primary liability. Kaepernick did more to hurt the offense early on and throughout with poorly executed throws and bad decisions.
Kaepernick's lone rushing touchdown is overshadowed by what went wrong on offense.
And the offense failed to get much of the running game going with running back Carlos Hyde netting 51 yards on 15 carries.
San Francisco's receivers were absent as was the passing offense, and the 49ers had no success in stopping quarterback Carson Palmer, wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald and a high-flying Cardinals offense.
Arizona picked apart the secondary, exposed coverage weaknesses among the 49ers linebacker corps and moved the ball with relative ease. One of the only positives from San Francisco's defense was an interception from second-year cornerback Kenneth Acker—the first of his pro career.
Still, the 49ers had no answers or adjustments during this contest.
And it showed.
The Secondary Continues to Be a Problem
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In Week 2, Steelers wideout Antonio Brown torched the 49ers. This week, it was Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald.
Fitzgerald posted 134 of quarterback Carson Palmer's 311 passing yards during the game and consistently exposed a secondary, which continues to be a liability for San Francisco's defense on the young season.
The 49ers managed to get more pressure on Palmer compared to their efforts last week. But the young group of defensive backs still couldn't execute well enough to stop Arizona's potent passing attack.
Cornerback Kenneth Acker did record his first NFL interception, and fellow corner Dontae Johnson had a couple of passes defended. But the secondary, as a whole, has not looked solid in coverage over San Francisco's last two games.
This will likely continue to be a unit tested by opponents this season.
And it's not going to get any easier with quarterback Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers coming to town in Week 4.
Where's the Offense?
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Running back Carlos Hyde was, for the second time in as many weeks, taken out of the 49ers' offensive plans.
Arizona held Hyde to 51 yards on 15 carries—numbers similar to his efforts in Week 2 against the Steelers. But Hyde didn't suffer from the multiple injuries as was the case in Pittsburgh. Instead, the Cardinals simply smothered the 49ers at the point of attack. Despite some solid gains, the 49ers were unable to unleash Hyde to any significant effect.
Running the ball was supposed to be a major part of San Francisco's 2015 offense. Teams are starting to show what happens when they take away this primary 49ers weapon.
The 49ers were trailing 31-7 entering the half. Granted, 14 of Arizona's points came from pick-sixes. Yet San Francisco could not figure out a way to answer back.
San Francisco's lone offensive score came late in the second quarter. Tyler Emerick of 49ers.com described the play:
"After the defense forced an Arizona 3-and-out, the Australian import fielded a punt near midfield with plenty of room to room. [Jarryd] Hayne hit his running lane hard and returned the ball 37 yards to the Cardinals 19-yard line to give the offense its best field position of the afternoon.
Three plays later, the 49ers scored their first points on a Kaepernick 12-yard touchdown run off a read-option play. Phil Dawson added the point after to cut the Cardinals lead to 28-7 just before the two-minute warning.
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And that was about it for San Francisco, offensively.
The 49ers have scored just 25 points over their last two efforts while allowing 90. And it's apparent San Francisco cannot respond when its running game is taken out of the equation.
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Colin Kaepernick's Forgettable Game
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A 16.7 passer rating is bad.
Sixty-seven passing yards is also bad.
And four interceptions in one game—two of which were returned for touchdowns—is abysmal.
Yet those are the lines for quarterback Colin Kaepernick. His first two interceptions looked like complete repeats of each other. And his other picks were poorly made and poorly executed throws, which played right into Arizona's strong defensive efforts.
Kaepernick was the first 49ers quarterback to throw two pick-sixes in a single game since Steve DeBerg did in 1980 against the Los Angeles Rams, per the Elias Sports Bureau (h/t Cam Inman of the San Jose Mercury News).
Quarterback Trent Dilfer was the last 49ers signal-caller to throw four interceptions in a single game per Inman.
Kaepernick had been doing a much-better job avoiding mistakes and turnovers prior to this contest in Arizona. His last interception was in Week 14 of the 2014 season against the Oakland Raiders.
Kaepernick's efforts, or lack thereof, will continue to spark criticism of his progression and growth. But quarterbacks, even the veterans, will have bad and forgettable games.
And this one may be the most forgettable of Kaepernick's career.
Jim Tomsula on Kaepernick
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Head coach Jim Tomsula could have benched quarterback Colin Kaepernick on Sunday, and he would have been perfectly justified in doing so given how San Francisco's No. 1 signal-caller was playing during the contest.
Yet, Tomsula stayed with Kaepernick throughout all four quarters and in spite of the four interceptions.
Kaepernick was not benched for backup quarterback Blaine Gabbert, despite the lopsided score, ugly numbers and the pending, forgettable outcome.
"Colin's our quarterback," Tomsula stated (via Cam Inman of the San Jose Mercury News). According to Inman, Tomsula never considered making the switch.
Perhaps this is Tomsula's way of letting Kaepernick figure out things on the field rather than the situation being handled by the coaching staff. Or, maybe, Tomsula was hoping Kaepernick would find some positives upon which to build heading into the 49ers' Week 4 contest versus the Green Bay Packers.
But Tomsula is trying to absorb a lot of the blame for all that went wrong.
"Bad day," Tomsula followed up (via the team's website). "It starts and ends with me. Hats off to the Arizona Cardinals for what they were able to accomplish today."
Such statements are admirable from San Francisco's head coach. But Kaepernick deserves plenty of the blame as well.
For now, signs are not pointing to Tomsula and Co. heading in a different direction with the 49ers' man under center. And one bad game wouldn't justify the switch anyway.
Tyrann Mathieu on 49ers' Offensive Efforts
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Cardinals safety Tyrann Mathieu was one of the primary reasons behind San Francisco's horrendous offensive showing in Week 3.
Mathieu posted two interceptions during the game—the first of which was returned for a touchdown.
Tyler Emerick of 49ers.com described the play:
"Lightning then struck twice on the 49ers ensuing possession. On 2nd-and-9 from the San Francisco 31-yard line, Kaepernick tried to hit Anquan Boldin near the right sideline. Tyrann Mathieu, however, read the quarterback’s eyes, intercepted the pass and returned it 33 yards for a touchdown to put the Cardinals ahead, 14-0, just six minutes into the first quarter.
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"Their passing game has been simplified so much, it was easy for us to anticipate routes," Mathieu stated during the Cardinals postgame presser (h/t Bruce Jenkins of the San Francisco Chronicle).
Mathieu's statements could have some validity. His first interception of the game was the second from the Cardinals defense and came on just the 49ers' second offensive possession. And both picks eerily resembled each other.
If Mathieu is correct here, and the 49ers' passing offense is overly simple, San Francisco needs to figure out a way to either disguise its offensive efforts or ensure the offense will continue to revolve around the rushing efforts of running back Carlos Hyde.
This falls upon offensive coordinator Geep Chryst's shoulders. And it also falls upon each member of the offense to do his part correctly—something that did not happen much at all in Week 3.
Kaepernick on His Own Efforts
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Two bad throws into the game and the 49ers found themselves trailing 14-0. Colin Kaeperick's first two picks on back-to-back possessions set the tone for San Francisco's loss. The outcome never really seemed in doubt midway through the first quarter.
Unlike Week 2, where Kaepernick was one of the lone bright spots in a losing effort, Kaepernick did more to hinder his team's prospects for a comeback.
"Very hard to see myself go out and play like that and hurt my team like I did," Kaepernick said (via Taylor Price of 49ers.com). "I have to be better moving forward."
Kaepernick's 12-yard rushing touchdown was the only offensive score for the 49ers in Week 3. But the play won't be the aspect upon which fans and analysts will direct their focus in the game's fallout. The four interceptions already hold that mark.
If there is a positive about playing the Packers in Week 4, it is the fact San Francisco is 4-0 against Green Bay over the last four contests between these two teams, including two postseason bouts.
And Kaepernick has a 129.4 career passer rating against the Packers in two regular-season games.
So at least there is some positive hope on the horizon, and the 49ers won't be able to focus on all that went wrong in this ugly loss.
All statistics, records and accolades courtesy of Pro-Football-Reference.com and ESPN.com unless otherwise indicated.
Peter Panacy is a Featured Columnist covering the San Francisco 49ers for Bleacher Report. Follow him @PeterPanacy on Twitter.
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