What we learned as 49ers crush Cardinals, move up in NFC originally appeared on NBC Sports Bayarea
MEXICO CITY — The 49ers return to the United States at the favorable elevation of being atop the NFC West standings.
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The 49ers treated a friendly international audience to a show on Monday night.
The 49ers overwhelmed the Arizona Cardinals with a healthy dose of their much-talked-about offensive weaponry in a 38-10 victory at historic Estadio Azteca.
Christian McCaffrey and Deebo Samuel had solid games rushing and receiving, and crowd favorite Jimmy Garoppolo produced another strong game with two touchdown passes to each of Brandon Aiyuk and George Kittle.
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The 49ers and Seattle Seahawks are tied atop the division with 6-4 records. The 49ers have a head-to-head win over Seattle and the victory over the Cardinals improves their division record to 4-0.
The 49ers now have a quick turnaround after traveling back Monday night on a four-and-a-half hour flight to the Bay Area.
The team returns to action Sunday against the New Orleans Saints to kick off a three-game homestand that concludes with Miami and Tampa Bay playing at Levi’s Stadium.
Here are three takeaways from Monday’s game:
Equal-opportunity offense gets rolling
It took the 49ers’ offense a little while to get going.
After a scoreless first quarter, the 49ers put together a nine-play, 82-yard drive that resulted in Garoppolo’s 7-yard touchdown pass to Aiyuk for a 7-3 lead.
And the 49ers did not stop there.
The previous time the 49ers played a regular-season game in Mexico City, the 49ers were held without an offensive touchdown. Aiyuk’s scoring play snapped a string of 77 minutes, 25 seconds without an offensive touchdown for the organization at Estadio Azteca.
When the 49ers and Cardinals met in 2005, the 49ers lost 31-14 after scoring two defensive touchdowns in the first quarter.
On the 49ers' next possession Monday night, Garoppolo stepped up in the pocket on a third-and-3 play. He could have run for the first down, but before he got to the line of scrimmage he lofted a pass over the top of the Cardinals defense to Kittle.
Kittle hauled it in at the 16-yard line and took it the rest of the way for a 39-yard scoring play.
Garoppolo’s two touchdown passes were not how they were drawn up. He worked his way from the right, all the way across the field on the throw to Aiyuk. On the other score, Kittle broke off his route because he found an opening deep.
The 49ers opened the second half with an eight-play, 75-yard drive that Deebo Samuel capped with a 39-yard touchdown run to give the 49ers a 24-10 lead. Samuel picked up key blocks from Trent Williams, Aiyuk and center Jake Brendel along the way.
The 49ers’ list of offensive contributors was long. Garoppolo completed 20 of 29 passes for 228 yards with four touchdown passes and no interceptions thrown.
McCaffrey had 39 yards rushing and 67 receiving while Samuel added 37 rushing and 57 receiving.
Defense steps up big ... again
Defensive back Jimmie Ward lost his job as the 49ers’ starting free safety to veteran Tashaun Gipson, but he has not lost his ability to make an impact.
Ward, who is now in the role of the team’s nickel back, made an interception on a Colt McCoy pass intended for Cardinals running back James Conner near midfield in the second quarter that set up a 49ers touchdown.
Coach Kyle Shanahan told NBC Sports Bay Area last week that he likes how the team has aligned Gipson as the starter and Ward as the nickel back. Gipson is seen as more of a ballhawk in the middle of the field, while the 49ers consider Ward one of their best cover guys.
In 149 career games over 11 seasons, Gipson has 28 interceptions, including one this season. Ward’s first-half pick was just the fifth in 99 career games over nine seasons.
The 49ers’ defense controlled the game at every level.
Defensive end Nick Bosa added to his team-leading sack total at the end of the first half when he dropped McCoy for a 12-yard loss.
49ers enjoy home-crowd advantage
The Cardinals were technically the home team, but there was no mistaking which club had more fans in the stands.
One 49ers official wondered during pregame warmups if it might be the biggest turnout of 49ers fans for any game in franchise history.
During pregame warmups, any time a player, such as Samuel, was shown on the video board, the crowd erupted in cheers. Conversely, when video was shown of Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray, the crowd responded with lusty boos.
Shanahan said last week that practice-squad offensive lineman Alfredo Gutierrez, a native of Mexico, promised him the crowd would not generate much noise when the 49ers were on offense.
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Sure enough, the crowd created far more noise when the Cardinals had the ball.
But those in attendance got fooled early in the second quarter, when the board flashed, “Get Loud!” After a few moments of noise, the decibels dropped to enable Garoppolo to call his signals so his offensive teammates could hear.
