49ers vs. Cardinals: Highlights, game tracker and more

The San Francisco 49ers faced the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, Oct. 1 in Week 4 of the 2017 NFL season. Here are the highlights from the game.

After a highly disappointing 2016 season, there were high hopes for the Arizona Cardinals coming into their 2017 campaign. They were healthier and seemed ready to rock. One David Johnson injury later and they were sitting at 1-2 through three games. That led them to Week 4 as they welcomed the winless San Francisco 49ers to University of Phoenix Stadium.

This was a slog right from the start. It looked like Carson Palmer and the Cardinals offense might’ve found a groove as they went on a long drive right off the opening kickoff. However, Palmer faltered in the red zone, throwing a pick to Ray-Ray Armstrong and ending the drive without points despite real promise. After two punts, though, so began the field goal fest.

San Francisco started by hitting one, but the Cards answered with one of their own. The 49ers then came back and added another. That streak stopped there, but the Cardinals did add one more kick before halftime off of an interception to tie the game at 6-6.

That type of mojo continued into the second half as each team kicked a field goal and then the 49ers added their fourth of the game, going ahead 12-9. However, the Cardinals wouldn’t go down without a whimper. Early in the fourth quarter, they tied with yet another field goal. Of course, these offenses weren’t able to make anything happen from there, thus forcing overtime.

Brian Hoyer and the 49ers put together a long drive that looked destined for the end zone. However, after over seven minutes with the ball, they had to settle for a field goal. That gave the Cardinals a chance to win.

Palmer then played his best of the day on the ensuing drive. He was peppering the defense with strikes to all different receivers, and it looked like he may have had a touchdown pass to John Brown. However, replay determined it wasn’t a catch, so they had to take another chance. That’s when Palmer looked the way of ol’ reliable, Larry Fitzgerald, who came down with a beautiful jump ball catch in the end zone to win.

Highlights

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The NFC West certainly feels like it’s completely up for grabs at this point. Though the Cardinals and 49ers came into this game with bad records, a win could potentially put them right back into the mix of the division.