49ers drop to 1-7 with second loss to Cardinals

GLENDALE, Ariz. - C.J. Beathard lined up in the shotgun with 7 seconds left, hoping to get one more completion to set up a potential tying field goal.

He and the 49ers never got the chance.

The snap sailed over Beathard’s head and San Francisco’s chances went with it, punctuating a disheartening 18-15 loss to the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday.

“Guys are really hurting in there and they should be,” 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said. “If they’re not, something’s wrong with them. But it’s our job, it’s what we do. We’re not happy at all with where the season’s gone. We need to step it up and we’re going to do something about it.”

Arizona won the NFC West rivals’ first meeting on Oct. 7 by forcing five turnovers.

The Cardinals (2-6) completed the season sweep behind rookie quarterback Josh Rosen’s late-game poise.

Rosen spent the first three quarters frustrated by San Francisco’s near-constant pressure. He was sacked three times, including once for a safety in the first quarter, and often had to throw before he could go through his progressions with hands and bodies all around.

Once the fourth quarter started, the 49ers couldn’t get the same kind of pressure, and Rosen flourished with the extra time.

He led Arizona on a pair of scoring drives in the quarter, hitting Larry Fitzgerald on a 13-yard touchdown pass early, then finding Christian Kirk on a 9-yard score with 34 seconds left.

Rosen came into the huddle to start Arizona’s final drive with a few choice words.

“We’re going to win this (expletive) game,” he said.

The Cardinals did just that.

“That was a lot of fun,” Rosen said. “That’s why sports are fun.”

The Cardinals, winners at home for the first time under first-year coach Steve Wilks, beat San Francisco for the eighth straight time and second time in three weeks.

San Francisco (1-7) has lost six straight, including three games by three points or fewer.

“We didn’t expect to start this way, obviously,” said Beathard, who threw for 190 yards and a touchdown on 14-of-28 passing. “But we have and this is where we’re at right now, and we’ve got to move forward.”

The 49ers put themselves in good position to end the losing streak by dominating Arizona on defense and doing just enough on offense through three quarters.

“Our defense gave us a very good chance to win, giving us three turnovers and getting us a 12-point lead,” Shanahan said. “We didn’t capitalize on them enough for touchdowns and we didn’t make the plays at the end when we needed to.”

The Cardinals labored against San Francisco’s defense in their first game under new offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich, held to 135 yards and one field goal by Phil Dawson.

The 49ers had their own offensive problems in the first half, leading 5-3 despite gaining 61 total yards.

San Francisco finally revved up its offense in the second half, going up 15-3 after Beathard threw a 55-yard touchdown pass to Marquise Goodwin and Robbie Gould kicked his second field goal, from 20 yards.

Nothing worked in the fourth quarter.

The offense sputtered when it could have helped run out the clock, managing a meager 59 yards. The defense scooped up a fumble after Rosen’s TD pass to Fitzgerald, but allowed the Cardinals to march for the winning score after getting the ball back at their own 27-yard line with 2:16 left.

The 49ers still had a chance for a tying field goal, reaching Arizona’s 45-yard line with 10 seconds left, but Beathard had to scramble for the ball after Erik Magnuson’s snap sailed over his head.

“Last time we played them, we dominated them,” said San Francisco receiver Kendrick Bourne, who had seven catches for 71 yards. “It’s just not finishing when we need to. We’ve got to figure out how to fix that.”

Arizona, meanwhile, got two fourth-quarter touchdown passes from Rosen after the 49ers had built a 15-3 lead.

Rosen’s 13-yard pass to Larry Fitzgerald cut the lead to 15-10 with 11:06 to play. Fitzgerald also caught a 2-point conversion pass after Kirk’s TD.

Fitzgerald, in his 15th NFL season, caught eight passes for 102 yards, his best game of the season. He had four catches for 81 yards in the fourth quarter and the crowd chanted “LAR-RY, LAR-RY.”

“I threw him the ball and he caught it, whether it was a good ball or a bad ball,” Rosen said. “That’s why he’s a first-ballot Hall of Famer. I’m going to be telling my kids one day that I got to throw to him.”

Fitzgerald spiked the football after the 2-point catch, something he said he’d never done before.

“We don’t spike the ball in our house,” Wilks said, “but I’ll let that one slide. I think he got carried away.”

San Francisco was slogging along with a 5-3 lead before Goodwin beat Patrick Peterson and took a short pass over the middle, then raced to the end zone to make it 12-3 in the third quarter. Gould’s second field goal of the game, from 20 yards, boosted the lead to 15-3.

San Francisco appeared to get a critical turnover with 4:44 to play, needing a coach’s challenge to get it. Arizona tight end Jermaine Gresham fumbled along the sideline and the 49ers’ Fred Warner recovered at the San Francisco 31. Officials initially ruled a 49er touched the ball while out of bounds, but the 49ers challenged and replays showed the player tried but failed to touch it.

But the Niners couldn’t move the ball and Arizona went 73 yards in 12 plays for the winning score, using 1:42.

San Francisco scored first when, backed up deep in Arizona territory, Rosen was called for intentional grounding in the end zone. The safety made it 2-0.

The only real scoring drive of the first half resulted in Dawson’s 31-yard field goal that put Arizona up 3-2. The 12-play, 78-yard drive was kept alive by a third-down pass interference penalty on Reuben Foster.