Drew Stanton got a lot of help from the special teams and defense in a win against the Giants last week, but the first 30 minutes of this week’s contest haven’t brought the same kind of support.
Colin Kaepernick led the 49ers on two 80-yard touchdown drives and the 49ers defense stiffened up once the ball was in their own territory, leaving the Cardinals in a 14-6 hole at halftime in Arizona. Kaepernick showed no hangover from his turnover-filled second half against the Bears last Sunday night as he completed 14-of-18 passes for 116 yards and a touchdown to Michael Crabtree over the first two quarters.
Kaepernick also ran for 45 yards, which came in handy as the team was converting 5-of-7 third downs against the Arizona defense. That failure to get off the field is something the Cardinals didn’t experience last week and it makes for a much harder road the rest of the way because it puts even more pressure on the offense to perform without their starting quarterback.
Stanton did lead one long drive of his own, a 17-play opus that eventually petered out on the San Francisco side of the field. The Cardinals got three points out of it, but it’s clear that the offense is going to need to more than field goal drives over the rest of the game if they’re to make it three straight wins to start the season.