Arizona Cardinals force five turnovers as they beat up on hapless 49ers in San Francisco

For the first time this season, the Cardinals philosophy of don’t let the offense screw it up, worked as the Cardinals won 28-18.

The first offensive play of the game made you excited, but the rest of the game was just depressing offensively.

Josh Rosen connected with Christian Kirk on a 75-yard touchdown pass to open up the game, and the Cardinals finished with only 223 yards of offense against a 49ers team that was 27th in points per game and 19th in yards per game.

That doesn’t mean much against this Cardinals offense, who is unequivocally and undoubtedly the worst in the NFL at this juncture.

The fast start on offense was matched by an equally impressive first half on defense, as the Cardinals would force two turnovers, one that setup the Cardinals second touchdown, a two-yard David Johnson run.

It was the dreaded second half that hurt the Arizona Cardinals again on offense, as the team produced a measly 77 yards of offense.

It caused the defense to play an ungodly amount in the second half, playing over 20 minutes of defense in the second half alone, as the offense had the ball for only seven minutes and 44 seconds.

That’s what happens when your offense can’t stay on the field or sustain drives.

However, it didn’t matter, because the Cardinals defense made play after play in this game.

The Cardinals forced five turnovers, while Josh Rosen, who struggled today, managed to protect the ball and not turn it over, which allowed the defense to play from ahead and it helped.

Tre Boston started the day with an interception, Chandler Jones had a sack, fumble recovery, Patrick Peterson recovered a fumble, returned it inside the five, Haason Reddick had a strip sack that Josh Bynes returned for a touchdown and Been Benwikere finished off the day with an interception with a long return that setup the Cardinals fourth and final touchdown if the day, a David Johnson eight-yard run.

It was what Steve Wilks has been waiting for and what he needed, as the Cardinals are on the board in the win column.

The offense still was not good, but it was good enough for this week.