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Cardinals vs. 49ers: Score and Twitter Reaction for Thursday Night Football
- Updated: October 7, 2016
Week 5 is early for must-win games in the NFL, but that’s what Thursday night’s showdown against the San Francisco 49ers was for the Arizona Cardinals.
The reigning NFC West champions were in dire need of a win following a 1-3 start, and they pulled through to the tune of a 33-21 victory at Levi’s Stadium.
Meanwhile, the 1-4 Niners have dropped four straight since blanking the Los Angeles Rams in Week 1.
David Johnson was the focal point of the Cardinals offense with Carson Palmer (concussion) sidelined, and he finished with 27 rushes for 157 yards and two touchdowns to go with three catches for 28 yards.
Johnson has now topped 100 yards from scrimmage in all five games this season, making him the first player in franchise history to accomplish that feat, according to the Elias Sports Bureau (via ESPN Stats & Info).
The outing also represented the second 100-yard rushing effort of Johnson’s career. Incidentally, both have come with Chip Kelly coaching the opposing team, according to the Sacramento Bee’s Matt Barrows:
David Johnson has gone over 100 yards for second time in his career. The first was last year against … this can’t be right … the Eagles.
— Matt Barrows (@mattbarrows) October 7, 2016
Drew Stanton, who started in place of Palmer, completed 11 of 28 passes for 124 yards and two touchdowns—both of which were to Larry Fitzgerald.
While some of those numbers were encouraging, Arizona’s start was anything but.
Each of the game’s first nine possessions ended with a punt, and CSN Bay Area’s Matt Maiocco provided a humorous snapshot of the listless proceedings to sum up both sides’ struggles:
It’s been 10 minutes since I last tweeted. Here’s all you need to know to get you caught up:OK, back to live action.
— Matt Maiocco (@MaioccoCSN) October 7, 2016
Of course, first-quarter woes were nothing new for Arizona, which has started the season with five straight scoreless first quarters. According to ESPN Stats & Info, Arizona is the only team in the league that has failed to score in the opening frame this season.
The 49ers weren’t much better during that span, but they did …
