49ers blow another 4th quarter lead: Rapid reactions

It was a hot day in Santa Clara, and the San Francisco 49ers had a hot first half, in all three phases of the game. But that changed in the second half, and the 49ers lost a game they should have easily won for the second time this season, losing to the Arizona Cardinals 24-23. And now the 49ers fall to 2-3 on the season.

Here are my rapid reactions from the game. These are my live observations, good and bad, as things unfolded. If you're squeamish, you may not want to read too far into this.

• Brock Purdy doing his best Lamar Jackson on the first drive.

• Three and out against a terrible defense is not the way to start. The offense was better the rest of the first half, though.
• Great punt coverage on the 49ers first punt. That's good to see. And a little surprising.
• 49ers defense is back to being terrible. At least for the opening drive.

• I don't like seeing De'Vondre Campbell play. At least not for the 49ers. Come back soon, Dre Greenlaw.
• Brandon Aiyuk's first touch of the game is a big one. He would end up having (by far) his best game of the season.

• 49ers red zone woes continue. More on this below.
• Jake Brendel is not good.
• Jordan Mason has no room to run. But he still managed almost 90 yards rushing. More on him below, as well.
• Dee Winters punishes people.
• In the first quarter, Purdy became the fastest quarterback to reach 50 career passing touchdowns in franchise history. You may have heard that the 49ers have had a few decent QBs before him.
• Talanoa Hufanga misses too many tackles. He's also been missing too many games.
• Aiyuk has been un-guardable today.
• Tom Brady is a Purdy fan. Will he still be after the game ends?
• Isaac Yiadom had great coverage late in the first half. He forced Arizona into a field goal attempt that Jordan Elliott blocked and Deommodore Lenoir returned for a touchdown.

• The special teams units have been better today. The 49ers need more of that.
• Until they gave up a big kick return that forced Jake Moody to make a tackle, and leading to an ankle injury for the 49ers kicker. Moody has a high ankle sprain and will miss some time. Why didn't he just kick that one out of the endzone like he's been doing? That injury will later prove to be costly.
• Malik Mustapha is an enforcer. If it moves, he's going to hit it.

• Nick Bosa doesn't just sack quarterbacks. He also intercepts passes.

• Wow, Mitch Wishnowsky, the punter, made a 26-yard field goal. I did not see that coming. Will Kyle Shanahan trust him to do it with the game on the line?
• The pass by Purdy that was tipped and intercepted was just sloppy. It looked like he was too lackadaisical on that throw.
• The 49ers defense has been much better on third down in this game.
• 49ers red zone offense is letting lesser teams hang around. (See final score)
• Purdy was excellent in the first half. Not so much in the second half. That included the big sack he took in which he should have thrown the ball away.
• Now the defense is starting to miss tackles. That's not what you want to see when you're holding on to a 10-point lead.
• Mason is a force. What a nasty stiff arm.

• Well—until that fumble. What a horrible time for a turnover.
• 49ers defense is feeling the effects of this heat. Even Fred Warner is missing tackles.
• Just when I was getting ready to praise the 49ers run defense, the second half happened. They can't do anything right.
• Losing Moody was huge. The 49ers had plenty of time to go down and kick a game-willing field goal. The problem is, they had no kicker.
• They had a chance, though, but couldn't pick up a blitz. Another tipped Purdy pass turns into an interception, and the game is over. That was ugly.

The 49ers were on pace to score over 40 in this game, after putting up 23 in the first half. They failed to score in the second half, and have blown yet another game to a bad team. The 49ers' four 2nd half possessions went like this:

1. Interception
2. Turnover on downs
3. Fumble
4. Interception

That isn't very good. Next up is the Seattle Seahawks on Thursday night.

• Marc Adams
• Written by:
  Marc Adams
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