The Cardinals beat the 49ers today in San Francisco, and at this point the 49ers losing isn’t really news -- they’re now 0-9 on the season.
But what happened at the end of the game was definitely news: A late hit on 49ers quarterback C.J. Beathard led to a brawl that saw three players ejected.
The three ejected players -- Cardinals defensive end Frostee Rucker, Cardinals linebacker Haason Reddick and 49ers running back Carlos Hyde -- will likely be fined this week, and other players are likely to be fined as well. The brawl marred the end of the game.
Of course, the Cardinals’ 20-10 win wasn’t much of a game. The 49ers stink, and although the Cardinals aren’t a very good team either, they won this one handily. Drew Stanton was decent, throwing for 201 yards and two touchdowns, while Cardinals running back Adrian Peterson finished with an incredible career-high 37 carries for 159 yards.
Peterson now has two 100-yard performances in his three games as a Cardinal, a shocking level of production considering what a non-factor he was during his four-game stint in New Orleans to start the season. Peterson looks like he’s been rejuvenated in Arizona.
That probably won’t be enough to get the 4-4 Cardinals to the playoffs, but it should at least keep them alive in the playoff race into December.