49ers drop season finale at Arizona Cardinals
49ers quarterback Joshua Dobbs (#5) center gets tackle by Cardinals defender during the San Francisco 49ers and Arizona Cardinals game played at State Farm Stadium on Jan. 5, 2025 in Glendale, Arizona. The Cardinals defeated the 49ers 47-24…(John Medina/Special to Bay Area News Group)
2025.01.05 – With starter quarterback Brock Purdy out for the San Francisco 49ers, QB2 Joshua Dobbs drop the season finale 47-24 at Arizona Cardinals.
Dobbs spent the 2024 season in a backup role, seeing mop-up action in one game and had an up-and-down final game before hitting the free-agent market. He threw for for 326 yards and two touchdowns but also had three turnovers on Sunday.
“It was great to be out there,” said Dobbs. “Thought for three quarters we battled. Obviously, turnovers killed us — that was the difference in the game.”
Dobbs had a whirlwind 2023 — including a stint in Arizona — before earning a backup role with San Francisco (6-11) this year. He was the third quarterback behind Purdy and Brandon Allen, attempting his only four passes in last week’s 40-34 loss to Detroit.
With Purdy nursing an elbow injury and the 49ers out of the playoffs, coach Kyle Shanahan opted to go with Dobbs over Allen for the season finale because of his mobility behind a patchwork offensive line.
2025.01.05 (SF 49ers vs. AZ Cardinals) Game Highlights
Collier (#91) left of the Arizona Cardinals consoles Isaac Guerendo (#31) center of the San Francisco 49ers after an injury during the first quarter at State Farm Stadium on Jan. 05, 2025 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Norm Hall/Getty Images)
2025.01.05 (SF 49ers vs. AZ Cardinals) Game Highlights – (CD-Highlights)
2025.01.05 – SF 49ers vs. AZ Cardinals (NBC Sports Post Game)
Dobbs had some good moments against the Cardinals (8-9) and a few he’d like back.
Dobbs scored on a 1-yard run and found Ricky Pearsall for a 6-yard TD, both in the second quarter. He also hit fullback Kyle Juszczyk for a 36-yard touchdown that pulled the 49ers within 26-24 in the third quarter.
But the turnovers, as they usually are, were costly.
The first interception came in the second quarter, when he tried to squeeze the ball into a tight window and Arizona’s Sean Murphy-Bunting snagged it at the Cardinals 45. Arizona’s Kyler Murray hit Greg Dortch on a 23-yard touchdown pass on the ensuing drive, helping the Cardinals build a 20-17 halftime lead.
With the game still in reach, Dobbs lost a fumble on a run to the left, recovered by the Cardinals at their 27. Arizona didn’t score on the next drive, but did after an interception that bounced off Pearsall into the hands of Arizona cornerback Kei’Tel Clark at San Francisco’s 39. Murray found Marvin Harrison Jr. for a 12-yard touchdown three plays later, putting the Cardinals up 40-24.
“(I wanted to) enjoy the opportunity to start and NFL game, which is always rare and hard to come by,” Dobbs said.
The season didn’t end the way he hoped, but Dobbs hopes he gets the opportunity again.
2025.01.05 – SF 49ers vs. AZ Cardinals (NBC Sports Post Game)
Arizona Cardinals tight end Trey McBride (#85) center tries to hurdle San Francisco 49ers safety Ji’Ayir Brown (#27) during the first half of an NFL football game in Glendale, Ariz., Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)
2025.01.05 – SF 49ers vs. AZ Cardinals (NBC Sports Post Game)
2025.01.05 – SF 49ers vs. AZ Cardinals (NBC Sports Post Game)
The 49ers final season record 6-11 is bad enough for the NFL Draft’s 11th overall pick and the NFC West’s cellar.
“It’s kind of an embarrassment. It doesn’t feel good,” defensive end Nick Bosa said. “It’s hard to look the guys in their faces as a leader on the team, and that’s the product that we kept putting out game after game. It’s pretty embarrassing.”
Of course, the defending NFC champion 49ers did not make a smooth exit, they only added to their long macabre season.
Less than two minutes into the game, running back Isaac Guerendo was carted off State Farm Stadium’s field, having sustained a left-knee injury that coach Shanahan relayed might only involve the medial collateral ligament.
An even more outlandish departure happened before halftime when wide receiver Jauan Jennings got ejected 25 yards shy of his first 1,000-yard season, the result of an end zone brawl with cornerback Sean Murphy-Bunting, who also was disqualified.
“No punches. All I did was pancake the guy. Played football,” Jennings said. “Took him and laid him on his back. Tried to get up, and he wouldn’t let me get up. Next thing you know, they’re just looking at me like I’m the bad guy.”
Jennings walked off the field without his helmet, shoulder pads or jersey, instead leaving with 52 yards on seven catches and 10 targets from Dobbs.
Shanahan said he never got an explanation from referee Shawn Smith why Jennings got ejected without throwing a punch.
Jennings exited the field just as Dobbs plunged in for a 1-yard touchdown run, and Moody made the ensuing point-after kick to tie the score at 10.
Dobbs passed for 326 yards (29-of-43) with two touchdown passes, and he scored on a second-quarter touchdown run. But he also accounted for three turnovers: two interceptions and a lost fumble in the fourth quarter.
Jennings’ exit left rookie Pearsall as the 49ers’ top target for Dobbs, who connected with the Phoenix native on a 6-yard, third-and-goal touchdown just before halftime and Jake Moody making the point-after kick to tie the score at 17.
Pearsall uniquely celebrated that third touchdown of his remarkable rookie season: He clutched his left hand to his right chest, mimicking his actions after getting shot in an Aug. 31 attempted robbery in San Francisco’s Union Square. That celebration made for a full-circle moment to a strange season by the defending NFC champions.
Pearsall (six catches, 69 yards) was Dobbs’ intended target on a fourth-quarter pass that was intercepted with 6:31 remaining, with a replay ruling nullifying a potential pick-six.
Still, it was the Cardinals’ second interception of the game. The 49ers’ defense had no interceptions for a seventh straight game, and no fumble recoveries for the 10th time in 11 games.
“The takaeways, or lack thereof, is what killed us,” linebacker Fred Warner said.
Beyond the season-high 47 points allowed, this finale still stood in stark contrast to last season’s, an overtime loss in the Super Bowl to the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs. Two Sundays ago, the 49ers were officially eliminated from playoff contention for the first time since 2020. They locked up last place in the NFC West by losing six of seven even before this desert duel against the Cardinals (8-9).
2025.01.05 – SF 49ers vs. AZ Cardinals (Krueger & Crew Post Game)
Kyle Juszczyk #44 of the San Francisco 49ers dives for a touchdown against the Arizona Cardinals during the third quarter at State Farm Stadium on Jan. 05, 2025 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
2025.01.05 – SF 49ers vs. AZ Cardinals (Krueger & Crew Post Game)
2025.01.05 – SF 49ers vs. AZ Cardinals (Krueger & Crew Post Game)
Under first-year defensive coordinator Nick Sorensen, the 49ers’ defense allowed 24 rushing touchdowns this season, one shy of the franchise’s single-season record. Michael Carter’s 4-yard TD run puts the Cardinals ahead 33-24, and Tony Jones Jr.’s 46-yard scoring streak made it 47-24 with 1:47 to spare.
“For as long as I’ve been here, I know that playing dominant defense, it just hasn’t been good enough, not even close,” Warner said. “To be out there every game and know it’s still not good enough, it’s a gut punch to my own pride. I’ll do everything I can to make it right.”
As their defense yielded 40 points for the second straight game, the 49ers’ offense struggled behind a patchwork offensive line and without its 2023 mainstays. Missing at the end were Purdy; running backs Guerendo, Christian McCaffrey, Jordan Mason; wide receivers Jennings, Brandon Aiyuk, and Deebo Samuel; and offensive linemen Trent Williams, Aaron Banks and Colton McKivitz, the latter of whom was carted off in the finale’s fourth quarter.
The 49ers offense did have their two longest-tenured players in fullback Kyle Juszczyk and tight end George Kittle, each of whom is under contract through 2025 but there is no certainty what might transpire before they return for a ninth year; Kittle declined to address his contract post-game.
Juszczyk caught Dobbs’ second touchdown pass and dived across the goal line for a 36-yard score that pulled the 49ers to a 26-24 third-quarter deficit. It was his second touchdown catch in as many games.
Quarterback Kyler Murray seized on the 49ers’ unthreatening defense for four touchdown passes, two going to Greg Dortch against nickel back Nick McCloud’s coverage and the other score finding tight end Trey McBride. The 49ers did not sack Murray as Bosa and Floyd finished the season with nine and 8 1/2 sacks, respectively.
The 49ers lost double-digit players to injured reserve, and they finished with double-digit losses in a season that can’t simply be dismissed as a Super Bowl-loss hangover. But now the 49ers can turn their focus to next season, which ends at Levi’s Stadium in Super Bowl 60 — with or without them.
INJURIES
49ers: Purdy (elbow) and WR Deebo Samuel (ribs/wrist) were inactive. … RB Issac Guerendo (knee/ankle) was carted off the field early in the first quarter. … S Malik Mustapha (knee) was hurt in the second quarter. … S Talanoa Hufanga (concussion) was ruled out early in the third quarter.
Cardinals: WR Michael Wilson (hamstring) and LB Victor Dimukeje (eye) were inactive. … CB Max Melton (wrist) left in the first half.
UP NEXT
49ers: End of season.
Cardinals: End of season.
Related: Lions rally pass 49ers at Levi’s Stadium
Related: See below – 49ers rally to beat Lions and secure Super Bowl trip
Read more at: San Francisco 49ers Media Services / More AP NFL
JEstevez@EMIsportsCentral.com
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