7 Glaring Takeaways From Cardinals' Week 3 Loss to 49ers

The Arizona Cardinals battled back, but it wasn't enough in the team's 36-30 loss to the San Francisco 49ers in Week 3.

The Cardinals found themselves down by three possessions in the third quarter and battled back, making the 49ers secure the win with an onside kick recovery with just seconds left on the clock.

Cardinals head coach Mike LaFleur will get back to the drawing board after dropping to 1-2 on the season.

Seven glaring takeaways after what transpired at Levi's Stadium:

Jeremiyah Love Needs The Ball More

As somebody who was on LaFleur's side in terms of splitting the load between Jeremiyah Love and Tyler Allgeier to begin the season, today's performance in San Francisco made things pretty clear: The Cardinals' offense is much better with the ball in Love's hand.

Arizona's rushing attack (granted against a depleted 49ers defensive line) took a step forward, and it's no coincidence that comes with a sharp uptick in Love's usage.

Love finished the day with 90 rushing yards on 21 attempts to pair with five receptions for 19 yards and one receiving touchdown.

This should just be the beginning for Love and his expanded role.

The Offensive Line is Struggling

Jacoby Brissett was under duress practically the entire afternoon at Levi's Stadium. Quite frankly, Arizona's lack of pass protection is eye-opening — and it's not just one player. Both the interior and tackle spots have struggled this season.

Though Brissett was only officially brought down twice on sacks, Arizona's front is still struggling to afford their quarterback more time in the pocket.

That partly falls on LaFleur and his lack of adjustments for blitzes/heavy boxes as well.

Arizona's Pass Rush Hasn't Been Much Better

Arizona's inability to impact the passer has been jarring. The Cardinals bet on their outside linebacker room taking a step up, and thus far that's been anything but the case. To make matters worse, Arizona's stars in OLB Josh Sweat and DL Walter Nolen have largely been non-factors.

The Cardinals yielded no sacks on Brock Purdy today, who picked Arizona's defense apart for 297 yards and four touchdowns to no interceptions.

Only sending four defenders clearly isn't working for defensive coordinator Nick Rallis, who needs to get more aggressive if he wants to truly impact the passer.

Marvin Harrison Jr. is an Afterthought, Even After His Best Game to Date

Even when he saw an uptick in targets/catches this week, Harrison still took a backseat to Cardinals' pass-catchers.

That's odd considering Harrison had his best outing of the year in all of targets (5), receptions (3) and yards (40).

However, a clear pecking order is being established. Trey McBride drew 17 targets while Michael Wilson had 11. Love had five targets to tie Harrison while Tyler Allgeier (4) and Elijah Higgins (3) weren't far behind.

At this point, it's safe to assume Harrison's role is more of a supporting cast wideout as opposed to owning the spotlight.

Special Teams is Quietly Solid

Every week, the Cardinals' special teams unit has either generated turnovers or put Arizona in a strong spot. Week 1 saw a recovered punt turn into a touchdown, Week 2 saw a kickoff nearly recovered in a tie game, and Week 3 saw a recovered fumble on a punt eventually lead to a touchdown.

That's on top of two missed extra points by the 49ers today, too — though those were more on the Niners if anything.

Still, football is a complementery game, and the Cardinals need all three phases to show up. Thus far, special teams (besides kickoff) have made plays.

Discipline is a Massive Issue

Week 1 saw the Cardinals log 8 penalties for 111 yards. Last week, Arizona cleaned some things up before unfortunately reverting back to their undisciplined ways in San Francisco.

The Cardinals finished with ten penalties for 86 yards in San Francisco, and when the dust settles on a one-possession game, it's tough to not think the Cardinals held themselves back to certain extents.

It Was Good to See Cardinals Fight Back

Last week in Seattle, the Cardinals were punched in the mouth during the second half. There was no fight back, and Arizona was handled.

It's early in LaFleur's tenure. There's no moral victory column for the Cardinals to place this game in, though it was refreshing to see Arizona push back instead of rolling over.

These are moments the Cardinals can use to build towards the future: Football is a 60-minute game, and maybe — just maybe — they're not so far away from being competitive.

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