The Arizona Cardinals pulled off a sizable upset in Week 3 when they knocked off the Cowboys 28-16 at State Farm Stadium. It was the Cardinals’ first win of the year, but it’s not something 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan is writing off as a fluke.
Shanahan on Wednesday was asked how his 3-0 49ers club that’s loaded with talent doesn’t overlook a team that many before the season (us included!) had marked as an easy victory for San Francisco in Week 4.
“Yeah, but all you have to do is watch the two games before that also,” Shanahan said. “They had every chance to win versus Washington in Week 1. I believe that they should have. I forget the exact score, but I want to say it was like 27-7 in the third quarter versus the Giants and they had every chance to win that and it got away from them at the end. Dallas was very similar, but they didn’t turn it over there at the end and they kept finishing and keeping them out of the red zone and ended up not being close. So, they’re a team that really should be 3-0 right now.”
To Shanahan’s point, the Cardinals led the Commanders going into the fourth quarter at Washington in Week 1. They had one third-quarter drive stall out in the red zone, then fumbled while driving to take the lead late in the fourth.
In Week 2 they were all over the Giants 28-7 at home late in the third quarter. Arizona punted once from the Giants’ 44 in the fourth quarter and then couldn’t get a stop as New York racked up four TDs and a game-winning field goal in their five second-half possessions.
There’s an easy case to be made that they’re two or three plays away from being 3-0.
That might ultimately help San Francisco focus in against a Cardinals squad that just two seasons ago went to Levi’s Stadium and blew out the 49ers with Colt McCoy starting at quarterback.
The 49ers are significantly better than this version of the Cardinals, but if they try and overlook them they could easily wind up like Dallas.