The San Francisco 49ers concluded their 2024 season on the road against the Arizona Cardinals. Among the long list of of injured players not suiting up for the season finale was QB1 Brock Purdy, who suffered a right elbow contusion and nerve inflammation in the team's Week 17 "Monday Night Football" matchup. With Purdy out of the lineup, Joshua Dobbs led the 49ers offense in the last game of the year. Dobbs has history with Arizona - he spent the first portion of the 2023 season as the Cardinals starting quarterback while Kyler Murray recovered from an ACL injury. He finished the day connecting on 29-of-43 passes for 326 yards, two touchdown passes and two interceptions.
Here are five takeaways from the 49ers-Cardinals game:
Jennings Closes Out Career-Best Season
Veteran wide receiver Jauan Jennings made an early exit from Sunday's matchup after picking up a disqualification penalty in the second quarter. He, along with Arizona cornerback Sean Murphy-Bunting, were ejected following a scuffle in the end zone on a rushing attempt by Dobbs. Because of the disqualification, Jennings finished the year with 975 receiving yards on the year, just shy of what would have been his first 1,000-yard season of his five-year career. He caught seven of ten passes thrown his way for 52 yards on the day.
Rookie Renardo Green Continues to Impress
The 49ers second round pick tied his season-high of two pass breakups for the third time this year. His first PBU came on Arizona's second offensive series on a third-down attempt to Cardinals receiver Zay Jones near the left sideline. Green played the hands of the receivers to knock away a well placed pass from Arizona quarterback Kyler Murray. His second breakup came in the second quarter and prevented a deep shot from Murray to wideout Xavier Weaver a few yards shy of the goal line. He also added three total tackles.
AZ Homecoming for Rookie Wideouts
Arizona natives Ricky Pearsall and Jacob Cowing enjoyed a homecoming game in Week 18 and were welcomed into State Farm Stadium by a large contingency of friends and family. Cowing shared he had roughly 15 family members in the stands while the broadcast revealed that Pearsall had over 100 loved ones in attendance.
The AZ boys made important completions in their home state - Pearsall hauled in six passes for 69 yards and a touchdown while Cowing had two catches for 30 yards. The 49ers first-rounder opened up the game in a big way, connecting with Dobbs on his second pass attempt for a 30-yard gain. His second catch of the day came just before the half on San Francisco's third scoring drive of the day. Pearsall connected with Dobbs in the end zone to tie the game at 17 with less than a minute before halftime. Cowing's 14-yard catch came on that same drive and helped set up Pearsall's score from six yards out.
Juice Does It All
The 49ers nine-time Pro Bow fullback laid out for a 36-yard touchdown completion in the third quarter. Dobbs fired down the left side of the field for wide open Kyle Juszczyk to punch in touchdown No. 3 of Sunday's contest. The touchdown marked the 24th of Juszczyk's career and brought the 49ers within two points with 4:49 left in the third quarter.
Injuries of the Game
Rookie running back Isaac Guerendo was injured early in the first quarter on his second carry of the game. Guerendo suffered knee and ankle injuries after getting rolled up on during a run up the middle. The fourth-rounder had to be carted off the field and was ruled out shortly after. Head coach Kyle Shanahan said postgame Guerendo likely has an MCL sprain, but he will undergo more testing on Monday.
With Guerendo out, running back Patrick Taylor Jr. was the "next man up" for the red and gold on Sunday, and he racked up 17 carries for 109 yards on the ground and punched in the 49ers first touchdown of the game. It marked Taylor Jr.'s first 100-plus rushing yard game of his career.
In the second quarter, safety Malik Mustapha was listed as questionable to return with a knee injury.
Safety Talanoa Hufanga was ruled out in the third quarter with a concussion.
At the start of the fourth quarter, wide receiver Chris Conley was also listed as questionable to return with an elbow injury. He re-entered the game in the fourth quarter.
