49ers report card: Clutch finish leads to 3-0, first-place mark

SANTA CLARA Here is how the ers - graded in Sunday s - win over the Arizona Cardinals - in their home opener PASS OFFENSE B Mac Jones aggravated a month-old knee sprain but engineered a two-minute drive that yielded the ers walk-off field goal Jones also shook off two fourth-quarter gaffes he blamed on himself an interception at Arizona s -yard line and then a safety on the ensuing possession in which Calais Campbell swam past Dominick Puni for a holding penalty in the end zone Jones relied too heavily on two targets Christian McCaffrey catches targets yards and Ricky Pearsall eight catches targets yards but the ers were down let s see George Kittle Brandon Aiyuk Jauan Jennings Demarcus Robinson Jordan Watkins etc Pearsall s -yard fourth-and- catch at the -yard line set up Jones only touchdown pass a -yard grenade on a play-action bootleg to Kyle Juszczyk Sacked once all tournament Jones completed passes to four different receivers Jake Tonges Skyy Moore Kendrick Bourne McCaffrey on the winning drive Cue Brock Purdy next Sunday against Jacksonville RUN OFFENSE D McCaffrey struggled to find room on his carries for yards Brian Robinson relieved him for just two carries but one resulted in a -yard gain on a likely go-ahead drive halted by Jones interception four snaps later McCaffrey got stopped for no gain on the snap before the interception it was the ers final run Rookie guard Connor Colby s starting debut saw him called for a holding penalty to nullify a -yard run by McCaffrey on the first snap after halftime PASS DEFENSE C Third-down pass breakups by Fred Warner and Upton Stout halted the Cardinals final two possessions Earlier Renardo Green s pass-interference penalty in the end zone set up Kyler Murray s lone touchdown pass that being a -yarder to Trey McBride against Dee Winters The ers have no interceptions through three games and Warner had one slip through his hands while also wishing he had snatched that aforementioned third-down throw RUN DEFENSE A- Murray scooted his way for just yards on six carries The biggest run stop came when Marques Sigle injured James Conner s ankle on the Cardinals second play after halftime Conner had just yards on nine carries while upstart back Trey Benson had carries for yards of which came on one run Warner racked up tackles for the second straight match and Winters had eight Chalking up tackles-for-loss were Bryce Huff Deommodore Lenoir Jordan Elliott and Mykel Williams whose came after he returned from a second-quarter wrist injury SPECIAL TEAMS A Related Articles Photos San Francisco ers claim first place in NFC West with - win over Arizona Cardinals McCaffrey shows toughness again in ers win over Cardinals How long he keep it up Kurtenbach Next man up For the - ers it s not just an empty saying What the ers mentioned after beating the Cardinals Studs and Duds Ricky Pearsall s elite day lifts Niners to improbable home win The kicker Eddy Pi eiro did his job He made all three field-goal attempts and a lone point-after kick Sounds simple It hadn t been with his predecessor Jake Moody Once Pi eiro made the -yard winning field goal as time expired the ers revealed themselves as the NFC West s only unbeaten association As for other special teams issues Skyy Moore likely should not have made a fair catch at the on the Cardinals final punt as it set up a safety but he did have kick returns of and yards COACHING A Ratatouille defined as a humble rustic vegetable stew is an apt culinary metaphor Kyle Shanahan cooked up another win Third in three tries Second via a fourth-quarter comeback third with fourth-quarter heroics This is not Shanahan s signature style Injuries be damned The Niners are undefeated Their stadium hosts the Super Bowl on Feb Commissioner Roger Goodell was on site to verify that Sunday Levi s Stadium as a Super Bowl site and perhaps the ers as an actual contender