Week 11 Post Game Review: 49ers @ Cardinals

By Scooter_McG

Hello first place in the NFC West! The 49ers steamrolled their way to the division lead beating the Colt McCoy led Cardinals 38-10 in Mexico City. The win makes it three on a trot for the 49ers after an uneven start to the season; it also represented the third game in a row that the defense gave up zero points in the second half and Jimmy Garoppolo didn't throw an intercept. 

This game, like the past two victories, started with the 49ers a little slow out of the gate. The 49ers ground game was well contained by the Cardinals and the first two drives didn't get much going. On defense, while they only gave up 3 points in the Cardinals opening couple of drives they were also helped out by a drop in the end zone that led to a Cardinals FG. 

But after that point it was pretty much all 49ers. The offense scored on 6 of their next 7 possessions, including 5 TDs. In the first half, the bulk of the attack was provided through yards after catch as the 49ers did an excellent job getting their playmakers the ball in space. They also largely used the short passing game in lieu of the ground game as the Cardinals were playing the run aggressively. McCaffrey actually finished the game with as many catches as carries despite being the lead RB for almost the entire first half, while Deebo also caught a few balls out of the backfield. 

In the second half the Cardinals started playing a little more passively on defense to protect against the short passing game only to see Shanahan integrate Eli "the Sledgehammer" Mitchell into the rushing attack who gouged the Cardinals repeatedly through the teeth of the defense in the third quarter. From there it was all too easy for the 49ers as the Cardinals defense were clearly gassed and out of the fight. 

The success of the 49ers offense can largely be placed on the ability of the 49ers OL to keep the Cardinals pass rush off Jimmy Garoppolo throughout the game. They gave Jimmy the time to survey the field and find his open receiver. But Jimmy G also did a great job on the occasions the Cardinals got a rusher through as he made a couple of excellent quick or second reaction plays, including a nice TD pass to George Kittle over the middle. On the night Jimmy G finished with 4 TD passes on what was another highly efficient performance where he kept the ball out of danger and put his playmakers in good positions to make plays.

The defense also did its part. As has been the story the past few games they had some troubles during the first half, though for the most part were pretty sound and did an excellent job taking the Cardinals running game away. The intercept by Ward with the score at 7-3 was also a big momentum builder off the back of the 49ers first TD and put the game squarely in the 49ers hands. But the second half performances by Ryans and the defense these past three games have been where they excelled. This week they came up with some big third and fourth down stops to prevent any hopes of a Cardinals fight back and keep the momentum of the 49ers offense going. It was another all round performance by the defense, with a number of players making key plays. 

It would be a very hard to please person to find fault in this 49ers performance. 

Making the victory even sweeter it maintains their current clean sweep of the division and guarantees the 49ers will finish the season with a winning record against the division. It also appears the 49ers came out of the game without any serious injuries.