Studs and Duds: Ricky Pearsall’s elite day lifts Niners to improbable home win

SANTA CLARA — Divisional games are always a slog, right?

The stakes are high, the bad blood is boiling, and the teams know each other so well that it turns into a chess match.

That’s the nice little story we tell ourselves to explain away the first two-and-a-half quarters of the snooze-fest that was the 49ers-Cardinals game on Sunday.

For a while there, it was a brutal watch. Two offenses that looked like they were allergic to the end zone. Kicks and punts and something even worse than three-and-outs — 12-play drives that only gain 30-something yards and no points — were the order of the day.

This is what we used our precious Sunday on?

But just as the Bay was, collectively, about to change the channel and start mowing the lawn or washing the car, the game shifted. It became a game.

And what a game it was. A back-breaking pick, a safety, and a 1:46-second game-winning drive all found their way into the final five-or-so minutes of the Niners’ 16-15 victory.

The film will probably be disowned by the NFL (“49ers-Cardinals Week 3, 2025? I don’t know what you’re talking about”), but the notch in the win column counts the same for the Niners.

Here are the studs and duds of a dud of a game and a stud of a win.

STUDS

Ricky Pearsall • WRYou look at the receiving corps around him — Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Kendrick Bourne, Skyy Moore — and you think if there was ever a game for this kid to be really good, this was it. And he was. He ended the game with eight catches for 117 yards, but more importantly, he sparked the win.

Bryce Huff • DEWith Nick Bosa and Mykel Williams (for a stretch) out, Huff stepped up in a big way. Not only did he get a sack and a pass deflection in the first half, but he was also playing on running downs and holding his own. He was already a great pickup, but now he’s vital and will be asked to keep this up.

Skyy Moore • KR/PRThe Niners have gotten nothing from their returners for a long time. So when Moore does anything even remotely adequate — or, dare I say, above average — he makes the studs list.

Fred Warner • LBIt was the worst game of Warner’s season so far. And it was still a great game. That tells you everything you need to know about the world’s best linebacker.

Dee Winters • LBHe was exceptional in the run game and strong against the pass. Three games in, and Winters is playing at a Pro Bowl level. Is it early? Absolutely. But who saw this coming?

Mykel Williams • DEYou simply cannot run the ball on the Niners when this guy is on the field. After we spent an entire calendar year complaining about the run defense, he has almost single-handedly fixed the problem. Forget the stats — that impact is immense.

Christian McCaffrey • RBThe Niners might not have scored at all if it weren’t for McCaffrey, who, once again, was the engine of an otherwise unimpressive machine. His 20-yard, I’ll-do-it-myself screen set up the game-winning field goal, but in a game where Brian Robinson Jr. was getting almost no snaps and everything was geared up to stop McCaffrey, his effectiveness before that play was terribly impressive.

Eddy Piñeiro • KCould you have imagined Jake Moody lining up for that field goal?

It would have felt a hell of a lot different as it was being lined up.

Instead, there was a strange calm around a hardly-capacity Levi’s Stadium on Sunday. Dinero Piñeiro is money, right?

Indeed. And the Niners are 3-0 because of it.

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Red Zone Kyle ShanahanThe 49ers were on their best drive of the game, alternating gains between Pearsall and McCaffrey to reach the Arizona 6-yard line. Robinson had his only carry of the game to that point, a five-yard run to put the Niners on the doorstep. And that’s where they stayed.

McCaffrey’s run from 23 personnel didn’t have a prayer, and then instead of taking the field goal, Shanahan calls for a shotgun pass play against an obvious blitz. Mack Wilson’s number is probably still imprinted on McCaffrey’s chest. It was a strange sequence that led to a brutal turnover.

It was Shanahan at his worst: uncreative and then too cute by half. He might be the best play sequencer in the league, but he doesn’t have a bag of “cool” plays for these crucial moments.

Connor Colby • LGSure, there were a couple of nice flash plays. But a couple of penalties and a handful of absolutely snap-ruining blocks highlighted Arizona’s game plan: they attacked the rookie, and it worked.

Renardo Green • CBPass interference on a pass to a man who wasn’t even the intended receiver? That’s a tough look for the sophomore corner. It’s even tougher when you consider the Cardinals scored a game-tying touchdown two plays later.

Dom Puni • RGPuni actually had a strong game, but he made a critical error with just over three minutes to play. After he was absolutely demolished off the line by the ageless Calais Campbell, who was going to read Jones his last rites, Puni, reacting as anyone would, tried to recover and held Campbell in the end zone. That’s a safety. That’s two points. That’s Cardinals ball. And it could have been the ballgame.