San Francisco 49ers vs Arizona Cardinals Box Score on Sep 27, 2015

The Sports Xchange
Sep 27, 2015

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- It's early, but it's looking as though the Arizona Cardinals are on the verge of dominating the NFC West. They certainly dominated the San Francisco 49ers and quarterback Colin Kaepernick on Sunday at University of Phoenix Stadium.

The Cardinals intercepted Kaepernick four times, returning two of the picks for first-quarter touchdowns as they improved to 3-0 with a 47-7 rout of the 49ers.

Coming off a 48-23 victory at Chicago, the Cardinals are now averaging an NFL-high 42 points per game.

With the victory, Arizona has a two-game lead over the rest of the NFC West, as San Francisco, St. Louis and Seattle all stand at 1-2 after three games.

The 49ers (1-2) couldn't get anything mounted offensively against Arizona's aggressive defense. With less than five minutes remaining, Kaepernick had completed only one more pass (five) than he had intercepted. And he had only thrown for 33 yards.

He finished the game 9 of 19 for 67 yards along with his four picks. Kaepernick ran for 46 yards and scored the 49ers' only touchdown, tucking the ball and running for a 12-yard score.

The Cardinals might have shut out the 49ers had punter Drew Butler not had a poor kick that was returned 37 yards by former rugby star Jarryd Hayne. That return helped set up Kaepernick's touchdown run.

Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer was 20 of 32 for 311 yards with two touchdowns -- both to Larry Fitzgerald, who was named NFC Offensive Player of the Week after catching eight passes for 112 yards and three touchdowns last week.

On Sunday, Fitzgerald caught nine passes for 134 yards and two scores from of 4 and 8 yards out.

Arizona backup Drew Stanton came on in relief of Palmer with 1:58 to play and closed out the game.

It was a mess that will require plenty of cleaning for the 49ers. The Cardinals intercepted Kaepernick twice in a span of 2:03 in the first quarter and returned both of them for touchdowns to a take a lead they would never surrender.

Cornerback Justin Bethel, getting his first defensives snap of the season for the Cardinals, stepped in front of tight end Vernon Davis and rambled 21 yards into the end zone after snaring Kaepernick's first pass attempt of the game.

His fifth attempt produced a similar result. Looking for veteran Anquan Boldin on a short curl route, safety Tyrann Mathieu read the play and stepped in front of Boldin, grabbing the pass, and high-stepping his way 33 yards for another pick-six for the Cardinals.

Arizona now has scored 12 defensive touchdowns since the start of the 2013 season, the most in the NFL.

The Cowboys and Chiefs have the second-most with eight defensive scores.

Chris Johnson rushed 22 times for 110 yards and scored on touchdown runs of 6 and 1 yards during the second quarter as Arizona cruised to a 31-7 halftime lead.

The Cardinals also registered a safety in the game, tackling Carlos Hyde in the end zone during the fourth quarter to extend their lead to 40-7.

NOTES: The Cardinals honored former safety Adrian Wilson at halftime by making him the 15th person to be inducted into the franchise's Ring of Honor. ... 49ers running back Reggie Bush did not travel with the team because of a nagging calf strain, which he suffered in a Week 1 victory against the Vikings. ... Bobby Massie, who missed the Cardinals' first two games of the season while serving a suspension for violating the league's substance-abuse policy, started at right tackle in place of Earl Watford. ... Cardinals safety Rashad Johnson was fined $17,363 for his Week 2 hit on Bears quarterback Jay Cutler.