Written by Kent Somers at AZCentral.com
The Cardinals-49ers game Thursday night at Levi’s Stadium won’t be remembered by many, other than those who are passionate about punting, and it’s not likely to help the NFL’s dwindling television ratings.
To the Cardinals, however, it served as both an awakening and a relief. They were far from perfect in their 33-21 victory, but it was a victory in a game that tested their mettle.
As he sat in front of his locker after the game, defensive tackle Calais Campbell released a big sigh, big even for a man 6-feet-8-inches and 300 pounds.
“It’s huge,” he said. “We’ve been saying all week, ‘It starts with one and then just stack them.’ Now, we have to figure out we can do to keep that ball rolling.”
Sure, the 49ers (1-4) are not a good team. But the Cardinals (2-3) haven’t been one this season, either, and they played Thursday night without their starting quarterback, Carson Palmer, who is out with a concussion.
After a rocky start, Drew Stanton was better than serviceable in Palmer’s place, especially when he started getting help from receivers who actually caught passes.
Stanton only completed 11 passes in 28 attempts, but six of the completions, including two touchdowns, went to Larry Fitzgerald.
It wasn’t all that much, but it was enough
“Once I got a chance to settle down, I felt good about everything,” said Stanton, making his first start since 2014. “Throughout the course of a game, you have to find that rhythm, and I hadn’t been out there in awhile. My goal was to come out of here with a victory, and I feel good about accomplishing that goal.”
After the game, coach Bruce Arians preferred the word “hungry” over “desperate” to describe the Cardinals’ psyche entering the game.
“It’s a team that knows we dug a hole for ourselves and we had to win this game,” he said. “If that’s desperate, it’s desperate.”
What the Cardinals could rely upon all night was running back David Johnson, who pounded away at the NFL’s worst rushing defense.
Johnson finished with 157 yards rushing and scored two touchdowns. It was an impressive performance by Johnson and the offensive line, which played most of the second half without its two starting guards – Mike Iupati and Evan Mathis – who suffered ankle injuries.
“He was hot and we never really wore him out,” Arians said. “That’s what expected of him the whole time. He left a few yards out there.”
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