San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Sporting Green
S. F. wins for just second time since October by shutting down NFL’s thirdbest offense
49ers win in adopted home, hurt Cardinals’ playoff chances.
Robert Saleh might be a modernday MacGyver, the protagonist of the 1980s television series who could create a bomb with, say, chewing gum and a stapler.
The 49ers defensive coordinator can create a suffocating defense with Kentavius Street, Azeez AlShaair, Marcell Harris and Tarvarius Moore.
No offense to that quartet, all of whom started for the 49ers on Saturday, but they aren’t exactly the Fearsome Foursome. But they were part of a ferocious defense overseen by Saleh that dominated the NFL’s thirdranked offense in a 2012 upset win over the playoffcontending Cardinals at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz.
“The best DC in the league, man” inside linebacker Fred Warner said. “I have so much respect for that guy. He’s such
a smart mind. And on top of that, knowing exactly what he wants. … He makes it crystal clear. It’s black and white, and we know exactly what to do on every snap.”
Warner finished with this: “Love that guy. I know he’s going to be a great head coach one day soon.”
Indeed, the win, which improved the 49ers to 69, increases the odds the 49ers will lose Saleh next month. He was already a hot head coaching candidate, considering the 49ers arrived with the NFL’s fifthranked defense despite an inordinate amount of injuries.
But his agent might have been fielding calls Saturday as his piecedtogether unit held quarterback Kyler Murray, wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins and company to 12 points, less than half of their season average ( 27.2).
Head coach Kyle Shanahan has braced for Saleh’s likely exit, even speaking with him about 49ers assistants he might bring to another team.
“It says a lot about him ( with) the injuries we’ve had throughout the year,” Shanahan said. “The way he’s adjusted. … For our defense to play at the level they have throughout all this says a ton about him. A ton about his staff. And a ton about his players. We didn’t have many guys left.”
On Saturday, the defense was without safeties Jimmie Ward and Jaquiski Tartt; one of their firstround picks, rookie defensive tackle Javon Kinlaw, and a trio of former Pro Bowl players: cornerback Richard Sherman and pass rushers Nick Bosa and Dee Ford, who have combined to play in seven games in 2020.
No matter. The Cardinals scored six points in the first 47 minutes. Hopkins, who arrived with 1,324 receiving yards, was held to 48 yards while being shadowed by cornerback Jason Verrett. Murray didn’t have a passing or rushing touchdown for the second time in his past 23 games. And Arizona went 4for16 on third down.
Saleh “knows exactly what other teams want to give us,” linebacker Dre Greenlaw said. “For us, it’s just our job to listen and execute it.”
To be clear, the win wasn’t all about Saleh and the defense.
Running back Jeff Wilson rushed for a careerbest 183 yards on 23 carries, and quarterback C. J. Beathard, making his first start since October 2018, had three touchdown passes and a 125.4 passer rating. In addition, tight end George Kittle, playing his first game since Nov. 1, when he suffered a broken foot, had four catches for 92 yards.
Still, the offense scored just six points in the final 20 minutes, and special teams were a mess in the second half as kicker Robbie Gould missed an extra point and field goals of 37 and 41 yards.
That left the defense to finish off Arizona.
First, with nine minutes left, Warner batted down a 4thand2 pass from Murray that was intended for Hopkins on Arizona’s 35yard line.
The next two plays: a 34yard run by Wilson and a 1yard toss from Beathard to fullback Kyle Juszczyk that gave the 49ers a 2012 lead.
The Cardinals reached the 49ers’ 14yard line on their next drive, but cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon intercepted a pass in the end zone with just under five minutes left.
The gamesealing play, fittingly, captured the spirit of a defense whose coordinator peaches “extreme violence.”
With 20 seconds left, on 4thand6 from Arizona’s 44yard line, defensive lineman Alex Barrett, who has been waived by the 49ers five times since August, blasted Murray and forced an incompletion.
Murray stayed on the turf in pain. And Saleh and his players celebrated for, perhaps, one of the final times before it’s time for him to try to maximize the talent of an entire team.