3 Overreactions Cardinals Have to Avoid After 49ers Loss

The Arizona Cardinals drop to 1-2 after losing to the San Francisco 49ers on the road, 36-30.

"The one thing I'll say about all the phases is they battled. There's no question in my mind that they battled. That's a very good football team that we just played," head coach Mike LaFleur said postgame.

"There's no moral victories in any of this, like at all. But there's things we can take from this, but we got to move forward. We got to get better. We got to improve the stuff that we're not doing well."

Should fans be worried? Here are a few "overreactions" after Week 3:

The NFC West has lapped the Cardinals

Not an Overreaction: The Cardinals have now lost eight consecutive games against divisional opponents. Their last win against an NFC West team was 631 days ago.

Since 2023, the Arizona Cardinals are 3-17 against the NFC West. The firing of coach Jonathan Gannon was supposed to fix their divisional woes, but so far nothing has changed.

This season, Arizona is 0-2 with a minus 30-point differential vs. the NFC West. With four divisional games remaining, we'll see if the Cardinals can flip the script.

Arizona's Pass Defense will improve

Why this is an overreaction: The pass rush has been nonexistent. Through three weeks, the Arizona Cardinals rank among the worst in the league in quarterback pressures (31st) and sacks (27th), per Next Gen Stats.

As a result, opposing quarterbacks continue to find success through the air. The Cardinals have given up the third-most passing touchdowns in the NFL (8). They’re also allowing 8.4 passing yards per play, which is the second-worst mark in the league.

Cardinals defensive coordinator Nick Rallis needs to make major changes to fix this unit.

Jeremiyah Love is the Cardinals' No.1 RB

Not an Overreaction: The rookie out of Notre Dame delivered his best performance as a pro in Week 3, logging 109 total yards on 26 touches.

Jeremiyah Love had more rushing yards (90) against San Francisco than he had in his first two career games combined (70). Per Next Gen Stats, Love's 90 rushing yards in Week 3 were the most by a Cardinals rookie running back since David Johnson in 2015.

Arizona Cardinals RB Jeremiyah Love — Sep 27, 2026; Santa Clara, California, USA; Arizona Cardinals running back Jeremiyah Love (4) rushes for a touchdown San Francisco 49ers in the second half at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Jeremiyah Love produced a solid 4.3 yards per carry, but his longest run of the day went for just eight yards. Still, coach Mike LaFleur is confident the running game will eventually "pop."

"The stats aren't going to show it, but we ran the ball well. When your longest rush is eight yards, and we're not getting explosives, it's tough sledding sometimes," LaFleur said.

"We were getting good, efficient yards. We were in second and manageable, quite often. Stick with it. One of these is going to pop, and it just hasn't for us yet."

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