Arizona Cardinals: Get back on winning track 20-10
By Scott Allen
10. 42. 20. 32. Final
The Arizona Cardinals used offensive balance to keep the San Francisco 49ers off balance all day
So what if it was against the now 0-9 San Francisco 49ers? In the NFL, a win is the win. They don’t ask you who you beat at the end of the season. For the Arizona Cardinals, they got win number four.
It was the second win of the season over the 49ers. They have now won six straight games over their divisional rival. You can thank Adrian Peterson for keeping the offense on the field.
Peterson ran the ball 37 times for 159-yards. He didn’t get into the end zone but he truly carried the offense on Sunday. He was able to keep the Cardinals defense off the field.
The Cardinals won the time of possession 36:22 to 23:38. With Drew Stanton taking over at quarterback, that was something we talked about the last couple of weeks.
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Stanton didn’t play too bad. He went 15-30 with two touchdown passes and one interception. The one interception was in the end zone on a ball that was just slightly thrown behind tight end Jermaine Gresham.
The defense got five sacks of 49ers quarterback C.J. Beathard. Beathard was also intercepted once, by linebacker Karlos Dansby. It was Dansby’s 20th career interception, first since 2015.
Stanton started the game with a huge 52-yard pass completion to receiver John Brown. The Cardinals failed to convert on a Phil Dawson field goal attempt. It was the second consecutive game that had a Dawson miss on the first offensive drive.
The kicking game may be something the Cardinals will need to address sooner than they expected if that continues. If the Cardinals are to remain in the hunt, they need a kicker they can rely on, especially with Stanton leading the offensive charge.
For now, the Cardinals have to re-group quickly. They play the Seattle Seahawks on Thursday night at University of Phoenix Stadium. It will be the first home game since October 15th and just their fourth home game of the season going into week 10.