Rapid reactions: Cardinals claw their way back to beat 49ers in upset win

The Arizona Cardinals clawed their way back from a 13-point deficit at halftime to beat the 49ers 24-23 in San Francisco on Sunday.

Quarterback Kyler Murray ran for 83 yards on seven carries — including a 50-yard touchdown run — while completing 19-of-30 passes for 195 yards. Running back James Conner had a strong second half, racking up 77 yards on 10 carries after ending the first with just nine yards on six carries.

All in all, the Cardinals compiled 358 total yards and improved to 2-3 on the season.

Arizona Sports hosts and reporters gave their biggest takeaways from the Cardinals’ comeback win:

Vince Marotta, co-host of Bickley & Marotta Mornings: There’s improbable. Then there’s what happened Sunday in Santa Clara.

Somehow, the Arizona Cardinals overcame a 13-point halftime deficit to beat the San Francisco 49ers 24-23 at Levi’s Stadium. Major kudos to the Cardinals’ defense, which pitched a second-half shutout for the second time in three weeks. Arizona didn’t provide much in terms of resistance in the first half, but made things way more difficult for 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy and company in the last 30 minutes.

The Cardinals forced three turnovers in San Francisco’s four second-half possessions. The first, a Mack Wilson Sr. interception off of a Roy Lopez deflection, came when the 49ers were up 10. That led to a Chad Ryland field goal. The second turnover may have been the biggest play of the game. First and goal at the Cardinals’ eight-yard line and San Francisco leading 23-21. A touchdown probably seals it with around six minutes to play and Jesse Luketa flies in and strips Jordan Mason with Wilson making a great recovery.

That led to a grinding 14-play, 75-yard drive that Ryland capped with a 35-yard field goal. And the third turnover iced it. Niners needed a field goal to win (which would have been interesting since Jake Moody, their kicker, was out). On a first down from the San Francisco 42-yard line, Jalen Thompson came on a delayed blitz, forcing an affected throw by Purdy while Kyzir White made a diving interception to complete the win.

CARDINALS!!!!!! pic.twitter.com/d7nfKh9Gpn

— NFL (@NFL) October 6, 2024

Props also to the Cardinals’ offense, which looked rough and out of sync in the first half. James Conner, as he does, got stronger as the game wore on with help from the offensive line, which was missing Will Hernandez for much of the fourth quarter. Kyler Murray was more than solid in both the passing game and using his legs to make plays.

Yes, this might sound hyperbolic, but this might be the second-most improbable win in the Cardinals’ history in Arizona. The most improbable happened in the team’s first year in the Valley. The Cards fell behind by 23 points and rallied to win by a point. The opponent that day? The San Francisco 49ers. The score? 24-23, Cardinals.

Kellan Olson, co-host of Arizona Sports at Night: The only replicable part of that win is uncoincidentally the Cardinals’ identity. An outstanding second half out of James Conner and the running game led the deciding drives. Arizona’s passing attack was once again inconsistent, and on the defensive side of the ball, the pass rush was non-existent all while the defensive backs had their worst afternoon of the season.

All of this didn’t end up being enough to lose the game because the Cardinals’ defense held San Francisco scoreless in the second half, with the largest asterisk possible attached to that. A tipped-pass INT, fumble in the red zone and game-ending INT as Brock Purdy was hit were at the root of it. Stumbling into three turnovers and the 49ers not having a kicker on the other drive produced the outcome, as San Francisco had no trouble moving the ball.

That’s more of a long-term thought, though. In the short term, that’s a terrific signature win to regain momentum and provide a great reference point throughout the year for resiliency. Logic says all the red flags in this one should be the core takeaway when looking ahead but there was a lot to like about how the run game was the ultimate difference-maker.

John Gambadoro, co-host of Burns & Gambo: Credit all around for that win. A win on the road against a team that has dominated you in the past four games. Another win against a division opponent, something they failed to do even once last year. Now, they are 2-0. Big play after big play after big play. Working backwards – Jaylen Thompson’s blitz forcing a deflection that was intercepted by Kyzir White. Huge play. Ryland kicking a 35-yard field goal to put Arizona ahead (say what you want, last week he was not on this roster) Big play.

Kyler Murray, off his back foot with the blitz coming, hitting Marvin Harrison Jr. on a do or die 4th and 5 with 2:47 left – Are you kidding me! Amazing. That is a contender for play of the game. So is this next one – Jesse Freekin Luketa! Stripping Jordan Mason with San Francisco inside the Cardinals redzone with a first-and-goal from the eight-yard line and Mack Wilson recovering it with 6:11 remaining in the game. Play of the game to me!

If the 49ers score there and go up 30-21, that is ballgame. But Nick Rallis’ defense played their asses off and made some big plays. One of my favorite plays that may get overlooked – Murray facing a 3rd and 7 hitting Michael Wilson for 10 yards to keep a drive going that resulted in the touchdown to Higgins that, with the two-point conversion, made it 23-21. James Conner was a beast on that drive with seven touches! Are there things not to like, sure. But after a win like that, there is no reason to discuss them. Great win. Great team win. Absolutely had to have one of these next two road games (San Francisco and Green Bay) so you wouldn’t fall to 1-5 and they got it. Had to have it. Got it. Incredible win. Cardinals fans everywhere should be very proud of this team’s performance today.

Luke Lapinski, co-host of Wolf & Luke: You have to have season-altering wins if you’re a younger team trying to grow in the NFL. They don’t have to be pretty, they just have to be real. And they’re probably going to surprise a lot of people when they happen. Today’s game definitely fits all the criteria.

Ideally, the days of moral victories or hypothetical “yeah-but-what-if” scenarios are a thing of the past for the Cardinals. It’s time to get actual wins over teams that have had their number for a while. After going 1-11 vs the NFC West the last two years, Arizona’s suddenly 2-0 in the division this season. And that unlocks a lot of potential opportunities.

The 24-23 win over the Niners wasn’t perfect by any means. The offense other than James Conner was pretty stagnant after the opening drive, and Marvin Harrison Jr inexplicably disappeared for a good chunk of the game. They had a field goal blocked and returned all the way for a touchdown — usually a pretty clear indicator you’re going to lose on the road — and Kyler Murray threw his worst interception of the season. But who cares? They stole a huge game anyway. Style points mean nothing in the standings.

There are definitely areas that need to be cleaned up, but the Cardinals are in this now. After a brutal five-game stretch, they find themselves second in the NFC West — just a game behind the far-from-dominant Seahawks. And the defense showed it can do some real damage today, taking over late by pitching a shutout and forcing three San Francisco turnovers after halftime.

Nobody’s expecting the Super Bowl tomorrow, but the Cardinals are at the stage where you want to be playing in meaningful games and evolving all the time. They’re doing that now. And they really should only get better as the schedule unfolds and some of these rookies and second-year players get healthy and gain experience. Starting 1-4 would’ve put them on a path to a potentially lost season before we even hit Halloween. 2-3 with wins over the Rams and 49ers is a very different story.

Plus, James Conner just reminded everyone he can run through anything with the game on the line. So they’ve got that going for them too, which is nice.

Dave Burns, co-host of Burns & Gambo: Say what you want about the “how”. The “what” is the thing I’m focused on right now: The Cardinals are a game out of first place in the NFC West with a 2-0 record against the deans of the division in Kyle Shanahan and Sean McVay. Jonathan Gannon, who insisted after last week’s humiliation against the Commanders that his team wasn’t that far off, gets a signature win. A second such win if you count the one last year vs. Philly.

The Cardinals needed to win one of the next two games to keep their season from sliding out of view. That box has been checked and next week we’ll see if another surprise awaits in Lambeau when the Cardinals can take out their newfound resilience out for a test drive.

The game – and perhaps the season – was teetering on the edge of the abyss; one more little nudge might have pushed it over. A maligned defense stiffened. An anonymous kicker made a name for himself. A quarterback facing another round of is-he-isn’t-he flexed his rushing prowess and moxie and made the connection with his star receiver when it mattered most. And from a TV booth, the greatest in the history of the game nodded in approval.

Oh, and James Conner reminded everyone that perhaps no player means more to the bottom line that he does. The unexpected happened; they showed the resolve that kept them out of the abyss. It’s the kind of thing that needs to be celebrated even if just for a day.

Mitch Vareldzis, co-host of Arizona Sports at Night: *control + A, delete*, *starts over*, Wow!

An iconic win that is certainly far from perfect. But c’mon, it’s the 49ers! In their house! And they won! I’m going to hand out some game balls:

Mack Wilson Sr. for continuing to be the best signing of the offseason; collecting two turnovers and playing great defense. Jalen Thompson for flying all over the field and forcing ‘the wobbler’ that won them the game. Nick Rallis for calling a defense that shut out the 49ers offense in the second half (Ignore the fact that they lost Jake Moody; they still shut them down). On top of that, they made Brock Purdy look average and made up for Brandon Aiyuk making real estate on the field. James Conner for turning up the nasty in the second half and really upping those yards per carry. Drew Petzing for calling design runs for Kyler Murray, and not just in the opening drive of the game!

And how about Chad Ryland, who was called in off the street and asked to fill in for Ol’ Reliable Matt Prater and drilled the game-winning field goal. But most importantly, Jonathan Gannon. Coaching is hard. Decision-making as a coach is hard. The best decision he made today was having his offense go for two after the Elijah Higgins touchdown. That’s a coach that knew his opponent had no kicker to utilize and decided to alter the line to make a field goal situation not force a tie but take a lead. It’s a gutsy decision that if it doesn’t work, we’re having a different conversation. But today, that decided the game.

Also, shoutout Tom Brady for a great broadcast; his best to date. Identifying moments in the game and giving true insight. It’s what great color commentators do. What’s also great about today’s win is that the Cardinals were the only NFC West team to win. Now you’re a game back of the Seahawks and tying them for the division lead. There was still stuff for the Cardinals to clean up before going to Lambeau. But if momentum does exist, the second half should carry over into their matchup against the Packers next Sunday.

Tyler Drake, Cardinals reporter and co-host of the Cardinals Corner podcast: Woah. Easily one of — if not the — biggest wins in Gannon’s tenure with the Cardinals.

After seeing much of the same old song and dance from both sides of the football across the first half of Sunday’s game, the Cardinals bucked recent trends and rose to the occasion in the second half with a complementary comeback. James Conner finally woke up in the second half after an ineffective first. He was easily one of the biggest contributors in this one. And yes, when Kyler Murray runs the rock, good things happen. After one carry last week, Murray turned in seven against the 49ers. Arizona is now 21-9 when he records seven carries or more in a game. More of that, please.

Defensively, though, we saw a lot more backbone from the unit than what was on display last week. Pitching a shutout against a 49ers team that has had its number is one heck of an accomplishment. Kyzir White and Mack Wilson Sr. continue to be some of the most consistent pieces of this defense through five weeks. There is also no debate: Wilson is by far Arizona’s best free agent addition in 2024. It’s not even close.

Now, it’s onto Green Bay and a potential return to .500. Just how everyone drew it up, right?