49ers vs. Cardinals: 5 reasons San Francisco lost in Week 8

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GLENDALE, AZ – OCTOBER 28: Wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald #11 of the Arizona Cardinals scores a two point conversion while being defended by defensive back K’Waun Williams #24 of the San Francisco 49ers during the fourth quarter at State Farm Stadium on October 28, 2018 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Norm Hall/Getty Images) /

The San Francisco 49ers suffered yet another fourth-quarter meltdown, this time falling to the lowly Arizona Cardinals 18-15 in Week 8. Niner Noise dissects the painful loss.

Week 8 was arguably the easiest remaining game on the San Francisco 49ers‘ 2018 schedule. After all, they were playing a one-win Arizona Cardinals team, whose only victory on the year was a five-turnover game against the Niners back in Week 5 — a game in which head coach Kyle Shanahan’s squad dominated, statistically, otherwise.

The Cardinals just fired their offensive coordinator, Mike McCoy, last week and replaced him with Byron Leftwich, who had never held such a position before. They were starting a rookie quarterback in Josh Rosen, whose 55 percent completion percentage ranked 33rd out of 34 qualifiers before the game.

San Francisco should have dominated this game too, especially if one knew the team wouldn’t turn the ball over and would generate two takeaways of its own.

But the 49ers didn’t win. Instead, they coughed up a 15-3 fourth-quarter lead and fell to 1-7 after the 18-15 defeat by Rosen and wide receivers Larry Fitzgerald and Christian Kirk.

Why?

In this case, defeat isn’t an orphan. There are so many different reasons San Francisco ended up falling short in the end to one of the worst rosters in the NFL right now. Some of the problems are repeat issues. Others seemed to flash out of nowhere.

But to try to understand the Niners’ latest debacle, let’s break down the five main reasons why Shanahan and Co. lost this should-win game in Week 8.