Arizona Cardinals Trail San Francisco 49’ers 22-14 At Halftime
By Scott Allen
Oct 13, 2013; San Francisco, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers tight end Vernon Davis (85) runs after the catch against the Arizona Cardinals during the first quarter at Candlestick Park. Mandatory Credit: Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports
I’m not quite sure what to make of this game so far. One minute the Arizona Cardinals defense is doing work. The next second the offense wakes up from the dead. Then the offensive line gives up a sack to the San Francisco 49’ers. Then the defense gives up a big touchdown pass from Niners quarterback Colin Kaepernick to tight end Vernon Davis. Then the Cards come right back with a long pass to receiver Brittan Golden and followed by a nice touchdown run by Andre Ellington.
It stayed that way after a couple of breathers but then the Niners managed to punch another one in at the end of the first half to give them their current 22-14 lead. So much for the Cardinals defense. It has given up way too many yards to the Niners today, most of them coming in the second quarter. At this rate, maybe the Cards will give up the 5000 points everyone was predicting. What do I know?
It was nice to see the Cards offense though show some life after looking lethargic early on. Cards quarterback Carson Palmer threw two early interceptions but has made a couple of nice throws since, one for a long touchdown to Larry Fitzgerald and another a long pass to Golden, who quite frankly should have scored as he lost his balance on the catch. Ellington picked him up on the next play though.
The Cards had one more shot before the half to score as they got Kaepernick to fumble but unfortunately the Cards fell short again. They attempted three shots downfield and compelted one of them to wide receiver Michael Floyd but he was called for offensive pass interference.
Still a bear on the Cards? Yeah, the third down conversions. Three of them just short of the marker. They continue the horrible conversion rate on 3rd down. It is growing quite tiresome. We shall see what happens in the second half.