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GLENDALE, Ariz. -- The Arizona Cardinals overcame four turnovers and a late rally by the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday by getting a game-winning, 34-yard field goal from Chandler Catanzaro at the end of regulation for a 23-20 victory. It was the third field goal of the game for Catanzaro, who also connected from 39 and 19 yards.
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"Relief. I was just glad that it did," Catanzaro said when asked what went through his mind when the kick was good. Two weeks ago against Seattle, he missed a game-winning kick in overtime during what turned out to be a 6-6 tie against the Seahawks.
The Cardinals improved to 4-4-1 while the 49ers lost for the eighth consecutive game to drop to 1-8.
"Obviously, I'm extremely happy with the win," Cardinals coach Bruce Arians said. "It was a game where I thought we had it in hand and gave it back and then weathered the storm and won it. I had no questions Cat would make the kick. It was never a doubt in my mind.
"Never a doubt in my mind that we'd take that two-minute drill and go down and score."
San Francisco converted two of the Arizona's turnovers into touchdowns, the last of which turned out to be a 4-yard keeper by Colin Kaepernick that helped tie the score at 20 with just under two minutes left to play.
That was more than enough time for Carson Palmer to move the Cardinals down the field. He hit on completions of 26 yards to Michael Floyd, 14 yards to Larry Fitzgerald and 12 yards to David Johnson before Catanzaro eventually came on the field to attempt his game-winner.
Palmer finished with 376 yards on 30-of 49-passing with one touchdown and two interceptions. More than 230 of those yards went to Fitzgerald (12 catches for 133 yards) and Floyd (five for 103).
Kaepernick, whose last visit to University of Phoenix Stadium a year ago was a disaster when he was intercepted four times and had two of those picks returned for scores, was much better this time. He completed 17 of 30 passes for 210 yards and a touchdown and he also ran 10 times for 55 yards and a score.
"I think he competed strongly; he did some good things," 49ers coach Chip Kelly said. "I thought he threw the ball pretty well. He missed a couple in the third quarter. I think we've got to do a better job getting him in a better position. ... It hurts. As tough as they just played, it's tough to give them words to make them feel better."
Johnson was held to 55 rushing yards on 19 carries by the 49ers, who entered the game allowing opponents an average of 193 total rushing yards per game and had yielded a 100-yard rusher in seven consecutive games.
The Cardinals overcame San Francisco's intent on stopping the run by hitting on their signature chunk plays that have been missing much of this season.
"It's great to see that," Johnson said. "Carson is always going to deliver and Larry, even though he's hurting (with ankle and knee issues), he still came out and just showed grit."
A 53-yard field goal by Phil Dawson with 8:46 left to play in the third quarter pulled the 49ers to within a touchdown at 20-13.
It appeared as though the Cardinals were on their way to grinding out the clock and being perfectly content with protecting their seven-point lead, especially after Palmer hit Fitzgerald for a 19-yard completion for a first down near midfield.
On the very next play, however, Palmer decided to throw on first down and Gerald Hodges stepped in front of it for the interception, giving the 49ers a chance to tie things up and perhaps even go for the win with a two-point conversion.
After Kaepernick's 4-yard touchdown run, Kelly played it safe and Dawson's PAT tied it up at 20 with 1:55 to play.
"The field goal still beats you," Kelly said when asked if he considered going for two."... I just wanted to give our team a shot. I didn't want to lose it for them because I wanted to go for a gunslinger and end up 21-19. But if we went up 21-20 at that point, there was still enough time on the clock for them to drive."
Arizona did something in the first quarter it had failed to do all season up to this point -- mounted an actual touchdown drive. Previously, the Cardinals had only scored one touchdown in the opening quarter -- the result of a long touchdown run by Johnson.
But on Sunday, during their third possession of the game, the Cardinals went 91 yards on 11 plays, finding the end zone on Palmer's 2-yard scoring pass to Johnson to complete a drive covering six minutes. It was Johnson's first touchdown reception of the year.
San Francisco turned the ball over at the end of the first quarter when Jeremy Kerley lost the football following a 25-yard punt return. On the next play, Jimmie Ward was flagged for pass interference against the Cardinals' J.J. Nelson and the 38-yard penalty put the ball at the 49ers' 18-yard line.
Johnson took the ensuing handoff, broke it outside and to the left and ran it in for his second touchdown and a 14-0 lead.
"The first quarter, we didn't capitalize on some plays and plays didn't quite pop the way we expected them to," Kaepernick said. "We were able to adjust and get to plays that we were able to be successful with and get in rhythm from there."
Kaepernick drove the 49ers down the field with efficiency soon afterward, capping a drive with a 17-yard touchdown pass to Kerley.
The teams traded field goals the rest of the half, with Catanzaro hitting from 39 and 19 yards for Arizona and Dawson connecting from 49 yards for San Francisco as the Cardinals took a 20-10 lead into the locker room at halftime.
NOTES: With the victory, the Cardinals swept the season series against the 49ers for a second consecutive season, something they haven't done since 2005-06. ... San Francisco QB Colin Kaepernick's second-quarter touchdown pass to WR Jeremy Kerley snapped the Cardinals' streak of failing to allow a touchdown pass to an opponent at 16 quarters. ... With his 1-yard reception in the second quarter, Arizona WR Larry Fitzgerald moved ahead of Terrell Owens (1,078) and into sixth place on the NFL's all-time receptions list.
