The San Francisco 49ers staged a second-half comeback to defeat the Arizona Cardinals 20-17 in their clash at Levi's Stadium, in what was Jim Harbaugh's final game as the club's head coach.
The Cardinals got off to a rapid start on offense as they fooled the 49ers with a fleaflicker as Kerwynn Williams ran forward and then tossed the ball back to Ryan Lindley, who lofted the ball to Michael Floyd in the endzone for a 20-yard touchdown.
San Francisco managed to level the scores when Colin Kaepernick fired over the top the Cardinals' defense to Anquan Boldin, who was left wide open to jog in for a 78-yard score.
The 49ers took the lead as Phil Dawson showed the strength of his leg with a 53-yard field goal, while the home side took advantage of a mistake from Lindley later in the quarter when he threw an interception, and that enabled Dawson to add another three points.
The Cardinals got back into the game late in the half as Chandler Catanzaro kicked a field goal, while seconds before the break they took the ascendency as Lindley fired deep down the sideline for Floyd, who leaped over the pylon for the 41-yard touchdown.
In the second half, the 49ers managed to edge themselves in front at the end of the third quarter when Kaepernick faked the handoff to Frank Gore and then drilled a pass to Bruce Miller in the endzone.
The touchdown proved to be the killer blow for the Cardinals as Lindley couldn't muster a comeback attempt as he was intercepted by Chris Culliver and Craig Dahl to seal the win for the home side, ending Harbaugh's reign at the club with a victory.
Simon Sinclair
