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SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Jalen Thompson sprinted toward the end zone, waving his arms wherever they wanted. Roy Lopez followed closely behind him. Khyris Tonga motioned for his teammates to join in, and they did, from all corners of the Arizona Cardinals sideline. Their hero, Kyzir White, was somewhere in the middle, holding his interception ball toward a stunned 49ers crowd.

This crowd arrived in Santa Clara on Sunday with legitimate expectations. They figured this would be one of the easiest wins on the 49ers' schedule, against an over- and under-talented Cardinals team. It would be Arizona's fourth loss in five games, further reflecting the gap between them and the NFL's elite.

But that's the beauty of football. A week ago, the Cardinals were decimated at home against Washington, a low point in the Kyler Murray era. On Sunday, they stunned the 49ers 24-23 and reset what's possible over the next three months.

Here's what we learned from the shocking win:

This was a seismic victory

A win in early October doesn't necessarily mean the Cardinals will make the playoffs. Just three weeks ago, they beat the Rams by 31 points and appeared to have an electric offense before scoring a total of 27 points in two home losses. The reality of the NFL changes weekly.

But Sunday at least preserved the playoff possibility. Since 1990, only 6.6% of 1-4 teams have made the playoffs. At 2-3, the Cardinals can still feel like anything is possible. They are one game behind the Seahawks, tied with the 49ers and lead the Rams. They are 2-0 in the division. As the rankings become more important in the coming weeks, the Cardinals will be in the mix.

The win also showed an impressive level of resilience. The Cardinals were 7.5-point underdogs after suffering a huge loss against a team that has destroyed them in recent memory. On Sunday, none of that bothered her for 60 Minutes.

“We got the arrow in the forehead,” said head coach Jonathan Gannon, “and we put all of our energy and focus on San Fran.”

The Cardinals' win started with defense

White's game-winning interception clinched the Cardinals' win. This game was about winning crucial moments in defense.

The Cardinals' defense wasn't perfect — allowing 244 passing yards and 5.9 yards per carry — but it came through when it mattered most. In the first half, the Cardinals managed three stops inside the 10-yard line and held the 49ers to field goals. They forced three turnovers in the second half.

On the first turnover, Brock Purdy had time in the pocket, but his pass was tipped by Roy Lopez, allowing Mack Wilson Sr. to throw in an interception. The second time around, Jesse Luketa flew in late to strip Jordan Mason, who was fighting for extra yardage. In the third, Jalen Thompson broke through on a safety blitz and hit Purdy, forcing a pop-up throw that White secured for the win.

The thing they have in common: The Cardinals played hard and aggressively, just like defensive coordinator Nick Rallis preaches. Sometimes that's the recipe for winning enough decisive moments.

“Sometimes we got punched in the mouth,” White said. “But we kept fighting back.”

Kyler Murray and the offense were resilient

Like their defense, the Cardinals' offense was far from perfect on Sunday. At half-time, Murray was in the dressing room frustrated at the missed opportunities. At one point, they had back-to-back drives inside the San Francisco 30-yard line and ended up minus-7 thanks to a blocked field goal return for a touchdown and an intercepted screen pass.

“We just didn’t capitalize on the opportunities we had down there,” Murray said.

In many ways it was a familiar scene. The Cardinals scored on their first drive – as they have in every game this year – and then fell silent.

This time they fought back. Trailing 23-13 after three quarters, Murray led a 12-play, 73-yard touchdown drive and a 14-play, 75-yard field goal drive. On those drives, he was 9 of 11 with a touchdown. James Conner added 77 yards on 13 carries after halftime.

“For us to fight back, fight back and end up winning this road game against a great team is huge,” Murray said.

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The offense showed its versatility

Back in training camp, the Cardinals offense shined with its versatility. It wasn't just the Murray, Conner and Marvin Harrison Jr. show. It was Trey McBride and Michael Wilson and Elijah Higgins and so on.

That was the offense the Cardinals displayed again on Sunday. Conner was silent in the first half, rushing for nine yards on six carries. Harrison was silent for most of the game, scoring just two of seven goals.

It didn't matter. Wilson rushed for 78 yards and McBride rushed for 53 yards in his comeback from a concussion. Higgins caught the game-winning touchdown in the fourth quarter. Murray used his legs better than he has all season. Greg Dortch and Tip Reiman both stepped in when the offense needed them.

It was also a performance that showed some of the creative style of play that has been missing in recent weeks. On the first play, offensive coordinator Drew Petzing pulled Murray out of the pocket to make a play-action pass to McBride for a first down. In the second, Murray kept a read option for a 50-yard touchdown. And on the fourth-quarter touchdown, the Cardinals faked a designed run with Murray, drawing the attention of the San Francisco defense, but Murray switched to an open Higgins.

The Cardinals kept the 49ers off balance all afternoon. This is a credit to both the players and the coaching staff.

The Cardinals weren't perfect

Even when everything was going well, the Cardinals weren't flawless, as they were in their Week 2 win over the Rams. They were often too porous defensively and too wasteful offensively. If it weren't for the injury to 49ers kicker Jake Moody, they might not have won. At one point, the 49ers had to attempt a 4th-and-23 from the 27-yard line instead of kicking a field goal.

All of this is cause for cautious optimism in the coming days ahead of a difficult trip to Green Bay. But on Sunday afternoon, as the Cardinals sprayed water on their various heroes in a celebratory locker room, that didn't matter.

On By John Fenwick

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