Halloween Football: Arizona Cardinals v. San Francisco 49ers

I hope all of you had a wonderful Halloween last night, especially if you’re a fan of the San Francisco 49ers. They won a surprise nail-biter of a game against the Arizona Cardinals on a special Halloween edition of Thursday Night Football; the final score read 25-28. Yesterday’s game was made even more special when the Cardinals decided to don their all black color rush uniforms (of course it’s kind of hard to make a cardinal scary). Even the weather was awesome. It was so great outside that the officials at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona decided to open the roof!

Both teams were ready to play, with home town Cardinals scoring the first touchdown of the game. Kenyan Drake (newly acquired RB from Miami) scored an easy 4 yard TD run, putting the Cards ahead by 7. Quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo and the San Fran offense responded in kind minutes later with a TD of their own. Jimmy G passed to tight end Geroge Kittle for a rumbling 30 yard touchdown, drawing the game level 7-7 at the end of the 1st quarter. The 2nd quarter was all about the 49ers offense. Garoppolo threw a pair of touchdowns that brought the score 7-21: his second touchdown of the night fell right into the hands of wide receiver Kendrick Bourne for 7 yards and the third was thrown to Emmanuel Sanders (recently acquired WR from Denver). Many of the Arizona faithful and the viewers at home were probably expecting another Thursday night blowout. But it wasn’t to be…

I’m not sure what Cardinals Coach Kliff Kingsbury said to his players, but it had to be good because they scored a touchdown after halftime. Quarterback Kyler Murray threw a 9 yard TD pass to wide receiver KeeSean Johnson that brought the score 14-21. Jimmy G and Co. didn’t take to kindly to that and responded accordingly. Garoppolo threw a 21 yard TD pass to wide receiver Dante Pettis that put the Niners a step ahead at 14-28. Unfortunately, the Cards could not  score another touchdown before the end of the 3rd, instead settling for a 36 yard field goal that put the score 17-28. They did score a TD in the 4th quarter; it was a Kyler Murray pass to wide receiver Andy Isabella that went for 88 yards, marking the score 25-28. That TD got the crowd jumping in the air, thinking their team would upset the undefeated 49ers. But it wasn’t to be. The Cards defense had to many lapses where the 9ers offense were able to secure crucial first downs and eat up time, resulting in the final score of 25-28. The loss moved Arizona to 3-5-1 (last place in the NFC West) while the win keeps San Francisco the only undefeated team in the NFC at 8-0 (1st place in the NFC West). The Cards appear to be in the race for the #1 draft pick but upon seeing last night’s effort, its hard to tell. The Niners still look to have locked in home field advantage for January (maybe even a possible Super Bowl). Who knows what’s in store for these teams…all I know is last night was fun!

Notable Fantasy Stats from the Halloween Game

Jimmy Garoppolo (QB, SF) – 28.88 points (317 Passing Yds with 4 Passing TDs + 2 Rushing Yds)

Kyler Murray (QB, ARI) – 23.04 points (241 Passing Yds with 2 Passing TDs + 34 Rushing Yds + 1 Two-Point Conversion)

Kenyan Drake (RB, ARI) – 28.2 points (110 Rushing Yds with 1 Rushing TD + 4 Receptions for 52 Yds + 1 Two-Point Conversion)

Matt Breida (RB, SF) – 11.2 points (78 Rushing Yds + 2 Receptions for 14 Yds)

Emmanuel Sanders (WR, SF) – 24.2 points (7 Receptions for 112 Yds and 1 Receiving TD)

Andy Isabella (WR, ARI) – 15.8 points (1 Reception for 88 Yds and 1 Receiving TD)

KeeSean Johnson (WR, ARI) – 10.2 points (2 Receptions for 22 Yds and 1 Receiving TD)

George Kittle (TE, SF) – 19.9 points (6 Receptions for 79 Yds and 1 Receiving TD)

Interesting Milestones…

Chandler Jones (LB, ARI) has tied Curtis Greer (former player for the Arizona Cardinals) for the forth most sacks in franchise history with 50.5

Kyler Murray has passed Brad Schwenk (former Cardinals player) for the most rushing yards by a rookie QB in franchise history.

Zane Gonzalez (K, ARI) has made 22 field goals, which is the most in the NFL this season.

Kenyan Drake had 100+ rushing yards in a game for the first time since Week 14, 2017.

Andy Isabella’s 88 yard receiving TD was the longest TD from scrimmage since Michael Floyd’s 91 yard TD in Week 11, 2013.

Jimmy G is 16-2 as a starter in his career.

Punto Extra

Este mes la NFL jugara en el Distrito Federal el 18 de Noviembre en el Estadio Azteca. El juego sera entre los Cargadores de Los Angeles y los Jefes de Kansas City. Si Ud quires verlo, puedes obten la NFL app o tu puedes ir a este sitio https://home.nflbite.com/. Abajo es los hightlights del jeugo ayer.