49ers take step forward in last-second loss to Cardinals
The 49ers didn’t win, falling 23-20 to the Cardinals on Chandler Catanzaro’s 34-yard field goal as time expired, but it’s notable that they didn’t get whacked.
The 49ers (1-8) arrived as 14-point underdogs, fell into an early 14-0 hole and then flipped the all-too-familiar script by fighting instead of folding.
Colin Kaepernick’s 4-yard bootleg run on the first play after the two-minute warning tied the game at 20-20 and inspired a foreign feeling for a team without a win in 63 days: joy.
“When Kap ran it in, the energy on the sideline was incredible,” outside linebacker Eli Harold said.
The 49ers, who arrived on pace to allow the second-most points in NFL history, had four takeaways, which was one more than they’d managed in their previous five games combined.
Inside linebacker Gerald Hodges picked off quarterback Carson Palmer with 3:13 left to set up the 57-yard game-tying drive.
The 49ers limited running back David Johnson to 55 yards on 19 carries, ending their stretch of allowing a 100-yard rusher in an NFL-record seven straight games.
The defensive players echoed Kelly — they weren’t about to celebrate a loss in which they allowed 443 yards — but it was clear that they were encouraged by the effort.
Said safety Eric Reid, who had his first interception since 2014: “I don’t believe in the moral victory stuff, but we competed today.”
Offered Harold, whose first career sack in the third quarter resulted in a fumble that was recovered by rookie defensive tackle DeForest Buckner: “A loss is a loss, but I feel that the train is turning, finally.”
Kaepernick, whose 398-yard performance a week earlier came against the porous Saints defense, had a solid performance against the NFL’s top-ranked unit.
Kaepernick, who completed 46 percent of his passes in his first two starts, has completed 59.4 percent of his passes with 608 yards, three touchdowns and one interception the past two weeks.
After missing two games with a shoulder injury, Hyde returned and had just 14 yards on 13 carries.
The rookie had a sack, three quarterback hits, a fumble recovery and was part of defense that allowed 80 rushing yards and 3.5 yards a carry.