SANTA CLARA, California — Year 2 of Kliff Kingsbury in Arizona is off to a good start. The Cardinals beat the defending NFC champion San Francisco 49ers 24-20 Sunday afternoon.
Second year Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray was excellent in the game, throwing for 230 yards and rushing for 91 more.
Arizona’s new weapon — wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins — was dominant as well. He caught 14 balls for 151 yards.
San Francisco got the ball back with 4:56 remaining in the game down by four points. The 49ers drove the ball into the red zone, but turned it over on downs at the Cardinals’ 16-yard line.
The Cardinals went 5-10-1 in Kingsbury’s first year at the helm. With Hopkins in the fold and another year in Kingsbury’s offense for Murray, some predict they could be a playoff team in 2020.