Overreaction to the Arizona Cardinals' surprising win against the San Francisco 49ers

If you told Arizona Cardinals fans they would be 2-3 after their first five games, they would accept it.

If you had told them it included wins over the San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Rams, most Cardinals fans would have been thrilled.

In what has been a roller coaster week, many Cardinals fans are feeling on top of the world again after Arizona defeated the team that has plagued them for many years in San Francisco.

I don't want to bring these fans (or anyone else) back down to earth, but there are some overreactions to the game – and some correct reactions:

Verdict: Overreaction

For at least one day, the Cardinals actually played like the best team in the division. With the Rams losing to the Packers (and sitting at 1-4) and Seattle losing at home to the Giants (pretty shocking), Arizona is actually back in the division race.

But the best team in the division? There's still a long way to go.

But today's win was a big warning sign for the division that despite all the injuries, issues on both sides of the ball and their recent history, the Cardinals aren't messing around.

Verdict: Slight overreaction

Some teams just get hot early in the season – Washington is one of those teams right now, having dismantled Cleveland in much the same way they dismantled Arizona last week.

Were Arizona's shortcomings and weaknesses exposed last week? Yes – that should worry even the most optimistic fans.

But every team has bad games. And Arizona bounced back in what many would call an amazing fashion.

Verdict: Slight overreaction

Petzing has drawn the ire of Cardinals fans and analysts over the past week, and rightly so. His first two play calls couldn't have gone better as rebounds against the 49ers – they culminated in a 50-yard run by Kyler Murray.

The rest of the game left a lot to be desired – especially on third down. Now, it's fair to say that Petzing can't control the blocked field goal, Trey McBride's dropped touchdown pass, or some of Kyler Murray's other misses.

But there were the usual head-scratching decisions (some that even commentator Tom Brady couldn't help but question) that Petzing brought up as the game went on. Perhaps one of the most confusing was that the red zone play came on a long third down.

To give Petzing his due, he calmed down in the 4th quarter and kept it simple by feeding James Conner plenty on the game-winning drive.

But there's still some nervousness among Cardinals fans – and the main question boils down to whether he can figure out how to keep the offense consistent outside of the first drive.

Verdict: Overreaction

395 and 406. 35 and 45.

If you're guessing that this is the yardage and point total from last year's two games/losses against San Francisco, you're correct.

Today they allowed a similar number of yards – 384. However, the Cardinals took advantage of several odd calls for the 49ers, along with three opportunistic turnovers, to hold them to 23 points – in fact, they gave up on defense with the blocked kick return only make up 17 to 6.

Well, that's certainly an improvement – but if you look at the game, there's usually very little Arizona can do to stop the 49ers' offense. So while it's a step in the right direction, I believe we need a slightly more consistent sample size before we can say the defense has improved.

The next two games should tell us a lot about this team and especially this defense, against two teams that have great offensive lines in Green Bay and the LA Chargers.

Verdict: Overreaction

Kyler has rightly been at the center of much debate among Cardinals fans this past week after his poor performance against the Commanders. Today's performance won't necessarily silence the doubters – but it should make it clear that Kyler will be, or at least should be, part of the solution – and not the problem in Arizona.

His throw to Marvin Harrison Jr. on fourth down in the fourth quarter to save the game was not luck, but incredible skill. And there are very few quarterbacks, maybe just a few, who can run to the end zone in the first quarter.

No quarterback is perfect – but it's really up to the Cardinals' staff to continue to figure out how they can continue to take advantage of his unique skillset.

Verdict: Overreaction

In some other comforting thoughts, Marvin Harrison Jr. will be fine. He was pretty well covered in today's game, but was able to gain a decisive advantage when it mattered most.

Just because he doesn't put up Malik Nabers-style numbers doesn't mean he hasn't proven his importance to this team and this offense. Similar to Murray, it's now up to the staff to figure out the best way to unlock him.

It's difficult to keep track after a roller coaster week, but it's important for Cardinals fans to realize that even if they are on a roll, it may still take some time for things to come together climax.

The good news? It appears that Arizona is on the right track.