Arizona Cardinals Get Huge 23-14 Win Over Niners

Sep 21, 2014; Glendale, AZ, USA; Arizona Cardinals wide receiver John Brown (12) celebrates a touchdown against the San Francisco 49ers during the second half at University of Phoenix Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

Just call the Arizona Cardinals a second-half team.  For the third straight week the Cards had to come from behind in the second half to defeat the San Francisco 49ers 23-14 at University of Phoenix Stadium.  It is the first victory over the Niners since December 2011.

The first half was a little shake from a defensive standpoint.  The Cards allowed Niners quarterback Colin Kaepernick to run free for 45 yards on nine carries in the first half.  He also was 14-18 for 116 yard and a touchdown.

As for Cards quarterback Drew Stanton, he didn’t play bad, had a couple of nice completions to receiver Michael Floyd, but the offense could only muster a couple of field goals from rookie Chandler Catanzaro.  That was something that the Cards offense experienced against the San Diego Chargers in week one.

The second half was a completely different story.  Stanton found a connection with receiver John Brown.  He hit Brown for two third-quarter touchdowns, one for 24-yards and another for 21-yards.  Stanton ended up going 18-33 for 244 yards and the two touchdowns.  Once again, no interceptions.

The fourth quarter it was all about taking time off the clock.  It looked promising for much of it.  The Cards had a nice drive going that made it down to the five-yard line before Cards receiver Larry Fitzgerald, who had just made a great play on the play before, fumbled the ball back to the Niners.  It was shades of the fumble Fitz had last year in the game at San Francisco.

However, San Francisco could not do a thing with the ball and had to punt it back to Arizona.  The Cards were able to get a couple of huge first-downs and nail the game down with another field goal to make it 23-14.  Rookie kicker Chandler Catanzaro is now 9-9 on field goals this season.  The Niners have been outscored 52-3 in the second-half this season.  The Cardinals have now outscored their opponents 30-0 in the fourth quarter this season.

Now, the Cards get a bye week to heal some wounds and rest.  They take a 3-0 record and first place into the bye and head to play the Denver Broncos in two weeks.  The Broncos are now 2-1 after losing in overtime to the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday.