Cardinals vs. 49ers: The good, bad and ugly from Week 9
By Peter Panacy
The Good
San Francisco 49ers
It’s a weekly theme, but not much.
The 49ers went 6-of-17 on third downs, so that isn’t it. San Francisco was outgained 368 yards to 329. And Arizona dominated the time-of-possession battle 36:22 to 23:38.
There probably wasn’t much to expect out of this contest, especially with the Cardinals experiencing their own problems. Yet there are a few positive takeaways. Rookie defensive back Adrian Colbert, coming in at free safety for Jaquiski Tartt, had a nice pass breakup showing a lot of range. Running back Carlos Hyde also ended up leading the offense in receiving yards too (84).
And the Niners, at times, looked effective enough against Adrian Peterson and Arizona’s ground game.
At times, that is.
Defensive Tackle DeForest Buckner
Hands down, second-year defensive tackle DeForest Buckner has been the Niners’ top player on either side of the ball.
Buckner was regularly in the backfield and stuffing a number of runs at the line of scrimmage. He finished the contest with two tackles and one quarterback hit but also had a number of pressures that will show up in the Pro Football Focus stat line tomorrow.
If San Francisco had a pass rush off the edge, Buckner’s sack numbers and assists would be significantly higher.
Linebacker Reuben Foster
Rookie linebacker Reuben Foster managed to play a full 60 minutes for the first time his NFL career.
Although Niner fans were certainly concerned when he had to come out with what appeared to be a re-aggravated ankle injury in the second half.
Reuben Foster is now at 12 solo tackles and 13 combined tackles today. The 12 solo tackles leads the entire NFL by 3 stops
— David Lombardi (@LombardiHimself) November 5, 2017
Foster returned and eventually finished with a team-high 14 tackles, 13 of them solo, and one tackle for a loss. If healthy, he remains one of the best weapons the Niners have on defense.
Quarterback C.J. Beathard’s Guts
San Francisco’s offensive line hasn’t been good this season, but injuries forced an already makeshift O-line into even more precarious situations against a stout Cardinals defensive front.
Predictably, quarterback C.J. Beathard was under constant duress throughout the contest, sacked five times and hit a whopping 16 times.
That’s why head coach Kyle Shanahan won’t make the switch to newly acquired Jimmy Garoppolo.
Heck, Beathard even was hit hard by Saints safety Antoine Bethea, which resulted in quite a scrum afterwards: