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Cardinals vs. 49ers: The Good, Bad and Ugly in Week 5 from San Francisco

By Peter Panacy

October 6, 2016; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers quarterback Blaine Gabbert (2) is tackled by Arizona Cardinals outside linebacker Alex Okafor (57) and outside linebacker Chandler Jones (55) during the fourth quarter at Levi's Stadium. The Cardinals defeated the 49ers 33-21. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
October 6, 2016; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers quarterback Blaine Gabbert (2) is tackled by Arizona Cardinals outside linebacker Alex Okafor (57) and outside linebacker Chandler Jones (55) during the fourth quarter at Levi's Stadium. The Cardinals defeated the 49ers 33-21. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports /
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October 6, 2016; Santa Clara, CA, USA; Arizona Cardinals running back David Johnson (31) runs against San Francisco 49ers strong safety Jaquiski Tartt (29) and free safety Eric Reid (35) during the third quarter at Levi’s Stadium. The Cardinals defeated the 49ers 33-21. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
October 6, 2016; Santa Clara, CA, USA; Arizona Cardinals running back David Johnson (31) runs against San Francisco 49ers strong safety Jaquiski Tartt (29) and free safety Eric Reid (35) during the third quarter at Levi’s Stadium. The Cardinals defeated the 49ers 33-21. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports /

The Ugly

San Francisco’s special teams should either force themselves to watch film from this game on repeat between now and Week 6. Or they should erase the performance from memory altogether.

October 6, 2016; Santa Clara, CA, USA; Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald (11) catches a touchdown pass against the San Francisco 49ers during the third quarter at Levi’s Stadium. The Cardinals defeated the 49ers 33-21. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
October 6, 2016; Santa Clara, CA, USA; Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald (11) catches a touchdown pass against the San Francisco 49ers during the third quarter at Levi’s Stadium. The Cardinals defeated the 49ers 33-21. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports /

Poor kick coverage, a fumble on the second-half opening kickoff return by Chris Davis or a costly running-into-the-kicker on a field-goal attempt all led to the Niners’ debacle here.

The 49ers committed just four penalties on the night. But they were costly. And this Niners team simply isn’t equipped to overcome such issues.

What about those issues? Well, San Francisco’s run defense isn’t going to climb out of it’s last place stand (140.5 yards against per game entering Week 5) after giving up 157 rushing yards and two touchdowns to Cardinals running back David Johnson.

Call it scheme, call it a lack of run-stoppers or call it sloppy execution, the Niners run defense stinks. And the rest of the league knows it.

Johnson was the lone reliable weapon with which Arizona could have come away with the victory. Feeding him worked.

On the flip side of the ball, San Francisco allowed a whopping seven sacks. This is more than double than the number allowed all season up to this point. Right tackle Trent Brown continues to be a liability in the running game, and his pass protection wasn’t much better.

More from Niner Noise

So it’s back to the drawing board for head coach Chip Kelly and Co.

The Niners, at least, have a bit of an extended break between Thursday night and their Week 6 road matchup against the Buffalo Bills.

But this break will require a lot of hard questions. And those questions don’t appear to have any answers in sight.

Next: What You See Is What You Get with Blaine Gabbert

All statistics, records and accolades courtesy of ESPN.com, Pro-Football-Reference.com and Sports-Reference.com unless otherwise indicated.