Last I checked, the 49ers won their Thursday night game against the Arizona Cardinals. From the mood of Richard Sherman, it looked like the 49ers lost. Sure he praises the offense and Jimmy Garoppolo for their stellar play, but when the defense was brought up during his post-game press conference, it was like bringing up a Super Bowl loss.
“We let ourselves down,” Sherman said in a somber, disappointing tone. “Myself included. You got to get him tackled at that point. The guy breaks, and we’ve got to get him down. I’ve got to make that tackle and get him down.”
The “guy” Sherman is referring to is Cardinals rookie wide receiver Andy Isabella, recipient of Kyler Murray’s final touchdown pass that let the Cardinals back into the game. Isabella caught a direct dart on the side of the field and took off for 88 yards, dodging Sherman en route to the endzone. The Cardinals made the ensuing two-point conversion to make it 3 point game and putting it on 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo’s shoulders.
Garoppolo managed to string together a long drive to keep the Cardinals offense off the field for the rest of the game, but this was a game 28-7 at one point. The Cardinals had the 49ers on their heels.
“It’s humbling,” Sherman said. “It’s humbling for the defense. We need to be humbled, and that was a humbling game. You need to be humbled on all levels. I think there was accountability on all levels, and we’ll watch the tape, and we’ll watch it critically.”
Isabella aside, the 49ers defense surrendered the most points this year: 25. It also ranks their worst game for rushing defense (153, 110 of which belong to newly acquired running back Kenyan Drake). The defense did not play well at all, and it got worse when linebacker Kwon Alexander left with a chest injury.
Sherman wasn’t pleased with all with his quick answers and disappointment. “That’s not championship football.”