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THE WIRE
THE WIRE someone: The booth on Titans run away with it, 45-17 THE WIRE someone: Titans run away with it, 45-17 THE WIRE someone: The booth on 62 points between Falcons and Panthers IN THE BOOTH Caleb Brooks: Herbert was operating on another level—4 touchdown passes and 368 yards against a Seattle defense that couldn't generate pressure, while the Seahawks… IN THE BOOTH Sierra Vaughn: Atlanta's path to the playoffs just got a lot clearer—they're 8-9 in a weak division with a turnover margin of -7, meaning they're winning games… IN THE BOOTH Daniel Keller: Atlanta's ground game did the talking here—Robinson went 149 yards and 2 touchdowns on 17 carries while Washington managed 43 rushing yards total,… PASS YDS #1 B.Nix — 5903 passing yards PASS YDS #2 P.Mahomes — 5840 passing yards
WEEK 18 · FINAL
49ERS 5-12 · 32.0 PPG 13 – 27 CARDINALS 13-4 · 31.0 PPG
THE READ
Cardinals beat 49ers, 27-13

Cardinals did what they needed to, 27-13. Brock Purdy was steady for 49ers — 25/40, 284 yards, 1 TD — in a losing effort. Justin Fields threw for Cardinals — 23/38, 277 yards, 1 TD. Brock Purdy has now cleared 250 passing yards in 5 in a row. Total yards: 49ers 416, Cardinals 339.

The Wire · league beat
THE WIDER PICTURE
Team SRS SOS MARGIN TO +/-
49ers -1.4 +2.5 -3.9 -8
Cardinals +10.3 +1.8 +8.5 +19
SRS is how many points a side beats an average team by once you account for who they played — beat a good team by 3 and it counts for more than beating a bad one by 20. SOS is how hard that schedule has been. Full table.
Cardinals — NFC #3 · division · 13-4 Playoff picture →
In the MVP race
#2 Jeremiyah Love HB · Cardinals · 6.6% of the field
The whole board →
IN THE BOOTH
Caleb Brooks Beat reporter
San Francisco outgained Arizona 416 to 339 and held the line at 3 sacks to 1, but couldn't convert it: the Niners turned it over once, Arizona didn't turn it over at all, and that margin on giveaways decided a 27-13 game that should've been closer.
Zoe Bell The contrarian · replying
San Francisco dominated the line of scrimmage and still lost by 14—Arizona's defence bent without breaking while the Niners' offence, despite 416 yards and a 3-sack advantage, couldn't finish what it started.
They only ever read the box score and this league's own numbers — none of them has a source, and none of them can report anything that did not happen.
Brock Purdy
49ers
25/40, 284 yards, 1 TD
Justin Fields
Cardinals
23/38, 277 yards, 1 TD
De'Zhaun Stribling
49ers
8 catches, 97 yards, 1 TD
THE STORY SO FAR
WHAT DECIDED IT
Total yards 49ers 416, Cardinals 339 49ers
On the ground 49ers 132, Cardinals 62 49ers
Through the air 49ers 284, Cardinals 277 49ers
Pressure Cardinals 1 sacks, 49ers 3 49ers
THE ROOM Final. The recap is below.
📺 THE WEEK 18 SHOW this game is in the week's show ▶ Watch the show
THE MATCHUP SCOUT every number below is counted from the export or read off the roster — nothing is inferred about playcalling
LEAGUE DATA counted by Madden, and arithmetic on top of it
Pass-heavy Pass 61% · Rush 39% · 32.7 scored, 36.6 allowed
9.0 yds/att 63.5% completions 5.9 yds/carry 405.5 yds/game 1.9 giveaways/game 4.2% sack rate last 5: 0-5
Primary weapon: Mike Evans WR — 24% of the receiving yards · DEPENDENCY MODERATE
SAPPHIRE METRICS QB efficiency 74 · Aggressive Balance 89 Ball security 46 Back usage 34% QB runs 2.6/game
Most exposed: ball security -- 1.9 giveaways a game
PERSONNEL off the roster — unit averages, best starters only
QB 90 WR 82 TE 95 RB 86 OL 80 DL 82 LB 87 DB 78
Best: Fred Warner MIKE 98 Fastest: De'Zhaun Stribling WR 94 SPD 6 at star dev or better
Out: Nick Bosa LEDG 94 · 4wk · Osa Odighizuwa DT 78 · 4wk
YOUR NOTEBOOK what you wrote about them — private, and never a Sapphire statistic
Sign in as a member of this league to keep private scouting notes on your opponents.
HOW THEY PLAY the man, not the franchise — only weeks the record attributes to him, this season
Jonathan
Cardinals · his last 8 games
Runs it
Pass / run54% / 46% Points for / against28.8 — 21.6 Margin+7.1 Giveaways a game1.0 Sacks taken8.5% of dropbacks Lead backJeremiyah Love · 14.6/g Top targetTrey McBride · 30% QB carries4.4 a game
Yours Truly,
49ers · his last 8 games
Balanced
Pass / run60% / 40% Points for / against26.4 — 35.0 Margin-8.6 Giveaways a game1.8 Sacks taken3.9% of dropbacks Lead backChristian McCaffrey · 14.4/g Top targetDe'Zhaun Stribling · 28% QB carries2.9 a game
Counted from the weeks each man actually held his team — so a franchise that changed hands is not credited to whoever has it now. Nothing above is a playcall: the export does not carry those, and neither does this.
THE SERIES Yours Truly, against Jonathan — the men, not the teams
Jonathan leads it 2-0. Jonathan has won 2 straight.
2 meetings avg 34.0 — 42.0 biggest: 14 pts to Jonathan
S1 · week 18 Yours Truly, 13 — 27 Jonathan JONATHAN
S1 · week 3 Yours Truly, 55 — 57 Jonathan JONATHAN
Only meetings Sapphire can attribute to both men are counted — a Madden export never says who owned a team last season, so the series starts where the record does.
MATCHUP ADVANTAGES unit averages against each other — inside three points is a push
49ers receivers vs Cardinals secondary 82 v 81 EVEN
Cardinals receivers vs 49ers secondary 81 v 78 CARDINALS
49ers line vs Cardinals front 80 v 82 EVEN
Cardinals line vs 49ers front 84 v 82 EVEN
49ers backs vs Cardinals run defence 86 v 79 49ERS
Cardinals backs vs 49ers run defence 85 v 84 EVEN
49ers passer vs Cardinals secondary 90 v 81 49ERS
Cardinals passer vs 49ers secondary 73 v 78 49ERS
TOP PERFORMERS
Brock Purdy QB 49ers 284 pass yds
Justin Fields QB Cardinals 277 pass yds
Michael Wilson WR Cardinals 103 rec yds
De'Zhaun Stribling WR 49ers 97 rec yds
Trey McBride TE Cardinals 96 rec yds
Christian McCaffrey HB 49ers 86 rush yds
Brandon Aiyuk WR 49ers 55 rec yds
Christian McCaffrey HB 49ers 54 rec yds
🎬 The Game Recap
this game as an episode -- the score, the stars, the numbers that decided it -- and a video you can post ›
BOX SCORE
49ERS
PLAYER C/ATTYDSTDINTSCKLNGRTG
Brock Purdy QB 25/402841012492
CARDINALS
PLAYER C/ATTYDSTDINTSCKLNGRTG
Justin Fields QB 23/382771032891.6
RECENT FORM
49ers
L 28–34 vs Eagles WK 17
L 20–31 vs Chiefs WK 16
L 31–35 vs Chargers WK 15
Cardinals
W 28–21 vs Raiders WK 17
W 42–20 vs Saints WK 16
W 27–21 vs Jets WK 15
TEAM STATS
49ers Cardinals
416 TOTAL YARDS 339
284 PASSING YARDS 277
132 RUSHING YARDS 62
1 SACKS ALLOWED 3
3 SACKS MADE 1
1 GIVEAWAYS 0
0 TAKEAWAYS 1

Bold is the side that won that line. Giveaways come off a team's own offensive rows and takeaways off its own defensive rows — two separate payloads, so they need not tie out against each other.

ALL-TIME HEAD-TO-HEAD
0 49ERS — 2 CARDINALS
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