NFL Old School Game of the Week: Cardinals Rally From 23 Points Down to Shock 49ers

Roy Green raises his arms in celebration after his game-winning touchdown catch against the 49ers in 1988.

In Week 10 of the 1988 NFL season, the San Francisco 49ers would play their first ever game in the state of the Arizona as they took on the Phoenix Cardinals(they changed the name to Arizona in 1994).

It would be an experience that the 49ers would like to forget while for the Cardinals it would be one of the greatest victories in team history.

 On March 15, 1988, the NFL voted to allow Brian Bidwell, owner of the St. Louis Cardinals, to move his team to Phoenix, Arizona as the Cardinals would play their home games at Sun Devil Stadium, home of the Arizona State Sun Devils, in Tempe which is about 10 miles away from downtown Phoenix.

For the Cardinals' inaugural season in Arizona, the team was led by head coach Gene Stallings, who was trying to get Phoenix to the postseason for the first time since 1982 and the first time in a non-strike shortned season since 1975.

At quarterback was Neil Lomax, an eight-year veteran who had thrown for a franchise record 4,614 yards in 1984 and 3,387 in 1987, which was tops in the NFL for most passing yards by a quarterback as his favorite targets were wide receivers Roy Green and J.T. Smith.

Following an 0-2 start to the season, the Cardinals would go on a four-game winning streak as Phoenix would improve its record to 5-4 entering their showdown with the 49ers.

While the Cardinals were just hoping to make it to the playoffs, the 49ers had dreams of making it back to the Super Bowl as San Francisco had won two Super Bowls earlier in the decade behind head coach Bill Walsh and quarterback Joe Montana.

However prior to the 1987 season, Walsh traded two NFL draft picks to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for quarterback Steve Young, as the creator of the West Coast offense thought that Montana was on the tail end of his career especially after a serious back injury sidelined Montana for several weeks during the 1986 season.

For the 1988 season, Montana would start the game at quarterback but at certain times would be replaced by Young for a series of two, leading to confusion on who really was the 49ers' starting quarterback as San Francisco went 6-3 over the first nine games of the '88 season.

With Montana bothered by his back, Young would get the start for the 49ers' trip to Phoenix to take on the Cardinals as Young hoped to rely on running back Roger Craig and wide receiver Jerry Rice to lead San Francisco to victory.

The 49ers got the ball to start the game as they would use their running game to drive down the field with the biggest run being a 21-yard run by Young as San Francisco moved 53 yards in eight plays to set up a 42-yard field goal by Mike Cofer to give the 49ers an early 3-0 lead.

Neither team could mount a drive for the rest of the first quarter until the 49ers put together a 10-play, 70-yard drive that spilled over into the second quarter as fullback Tom Rathman accounted for 30 yards on the drive with a 16-yard reception and two runs for 14 yards, all leading up to a three-yard touchdown run by Craig to increase San Francisco's lead to 10-0 with 12:06 to go in the second quarter.

The Cardinals would start their next possession at their 27-yard-line as a four-yard run by Stump Mitchell and a quarterback sack by the 49ers' defensive lineman Michael Carter and Larry Roberts would force a 3rd & 14 situation when Lomax completed a 22-yard pass to J.T. Smith only for him to fumble after a hit by San Francisco strong safety Jeff Fuller.

Linebacker Keena Turner would make the recovery to give the 49ers the ball at the Cardinals' 44-yard-line where Young would complete a 14-yard pass to Rice which was followed by a 25-yard run by Craig would give San Francisco a 1st & goal at the Phoenix five-yard-line.

However, the Cardinals' defense would keep the 49ers out of the end zone as a quarterback sack by Phoenix defensive tackle Bob Clasby would stall the drive and force San Francisco to settle for a 27-yard field goal by Cofer which increased the 49ers' lead to 13-0 with 8:24 left in the second quarter.

49ers running back Roger Craig would run for 162 yards on 26 carries and score one touchdown.

The Cardinals would then have its best drive of the game thus far as they drove from their 20-yard-line to the San Francisco 46-yard-line thanks in large part to running back Earl Ferrell, who carried the ball on the first three plays of the drive, as he gained 25 yards on his three carries.

But it was Ferrell who would cough up the football after a hit by 49ers linebacker Mike Walter as free safety Ronnie Lott would make the recovery to give San Francisco the ball at their 38-yard-line.

The 49ers would go three-and-out as a holding penalty would wipe out an eight-yard run by Rice on 3rd & 1 which was followed by Young was running for 11 yards on 3rd & 11 only for an illegal block push the 49ers back another 10 yards to set up 3rd & 21 when Young was sacked once again by Clasby forcing San Francisco to punt the ball back to the Cardinals.

The Cardinals would once again move into San Francisco territory and once again Ferrell would fumble the football as Turner would make his second recovery of the first half to give the 49ers the ball at their 42-yard-line with 1:34 left before halftime.

The drive would begin with a 19-yard pass from Young to Rice which was followed by two runs by Craig for 12 yards and then a 15-yard pass from Young to Mike Wilson to give the 49ers a 1st down at the Cardinals' 12-yard-line.

But the 49ers could not put into the end zone as they ended up settling for another field goal by Cofer, this one from 30 yards out which increase their lead to 16-0 as the first half came to an end.

After the Cardinals went three-and-out on their opening possession of the second half, the 49ers would put together a 12-play, 75-yard drive that took over six minutes off the clock and did not end until Young threw a three-yard touchdown pass to tight end Brent Jones, the first touchdown of Jones' career, to increase San Francisco's lead to 23-0 with 7:20 left in the third quarter.

At this point you couldn't blame Phoenix fans for thinking the game was over but there was hope on the Cardinals sidelines that they could come back and win as one year earlier, the Cards scored four touchdowns in the fourth quarter to overcome a 25-point deficit and defeat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 31-28 in the largest fourth quarter comeback in NFL history.

Going to a no-huddle offense, the Cardinals would start their next possession at their 26-yard-line as Lomax would complete a 15-yard pass to Smith on the first play of the drive as three plays later, Phoenix was faced with a 4th & 1 when Stallings decided to keep the offense on the field and go for the 1st down which they got when Ferrell ran for two yards to give the Cardinals a fresh set of downs at the San Francisco 48-yard-line.

After Ferrell caught a pass for nine yards then ran for four more yards to give Phoenix a 1st down, Lomax would hit Green in the corner of the end zone for a 35-yard touchdown to put the Cardinals on the scoreboard as they cut the 49ers' lead to 23-7 with 3:39 to go in the third quarter.

The 49ers would hold the ball for the rest of the third quarter as they drove from their 25-yard-line to the Cardinals' 37-yard-line where they would face a 3rd & 5 as the fourth quarter began with an apparent 1st down as Young scrambled for eight yards, only for it to be nullified by a holding penalty to set up 3rd & 15 when Young was sacked by Phoenix linebacker Kevin Harvey, forcing San Francisco to punt the ball back to the Cardinals.

Taking over at their 34-yard-line, the Cardinals would drive down to the field on the right arm of Lomax as he would complete four straight passes for 52 yards to move Phoenix to the San Francisco seven-yard-line when on 2nd & 5, Green dropped a sure touchdown that ended up costing the Cardinals four points as they settled for a 24-yard field goal by Al Del Greco to cut the 49ers' lead to 23-10 with 10:51 to go in the fourth quarter.

Cardinals quarterback Neil Lomax would 19 of 30 passes for 214 yards and threw three touchdowns passes in the second half alone.

Following a 49ers three-and-out, the Cardinals got the ball back at the 50-yard-line as a holding penalty would wipe out a 11-yard pass from Lomax to Ernie Jones on 3rd & 10 as Phoenix ended up punting the ball back to San Francisco, only to get a reprieve as a holding penalty on 49ers cornerback Eric Wright before the punt gave the Cardinals a 1st down at the San Francisco 45-yard-line.

However, the Cardinals would end up punting the ball to the 49ers anyway as San Francisco would begin its next possession at their nine-yard-line hoping to some run clock as Craig carried the ball on three straight plays, gaining nine yards to force another San Francisco punt as the Cardinals would once again take over possession at the 50-yard-line with 4:11 to play.

From there, Lomax would complete four straight passes to four different receivers for 48 yards to put the Cardinals at the 49ers' two-yard-line with a 1st & goal to go.

But two incomplete passes and a run by Ferrell that lost three yards would set up a do-or-die 4th & goal when Lomax found Jones for a five-yard touchdown to make it a 23-17 game with 2:17 left in the game.

Stallings decided against an onside kick as the Cardinals still had two timeouts plus the two-minute warning as the 49ers would take over at their 15-yard-line hoping to pick up a 1st down to put the game away.

Craig would run for seven yards on 1st down, then would lose one yard on 2nd down to set up 3rd & 4 when Young kept the ball on a bootleg around the left side as he would try to stretch the ball to pick up the 1st down while being pursued by Cardinals linebacker E.J. Junior.

Young and the 49ers that he picked up the 1st down but the referees spotted him short which was reviewed by the instant replay booth and upheld, forcing the 49ers to punt the ball back to the Cardinals, who took over at their 34-yard-line with 1:27 to play in the game and needing a touchdown to win.

The drive would begin with Lomax completing a nine-yard pass to Smith which was followed by a 14-yard pass to Jones to give the Cardinals a 1st down at the 49ers' 43-yard-line where Lomax would throw an incomplete pass to stop the clock.

Lomax would then hit Smith for nine yards before connecting with Jones for a 25-yard completion to put the Cardinals at the 49ers' nine-yard-line when Lomax threw a pass out of bounds to stop the clock with six seconds to go.

Having perhaps just one chance to get into the end zone, Lomax lofted a pass for Green in the back of the end zone, who would make the catch despite good coverage from 49ers defensive back Darryl Pollard to tie the game at 23 with three seconds to go.

The play would be reviewed and upheld as Al Del Greco would come on to kick the go-ahead extra point as the 49ers could not pull off a miracle on the ensuing kickoff as time expired with the Cardinals on top 24-23 to complete the second greatest comeback in team history.

The collapse against the Cardinals would not be the low point for the 49ers as they would fall to the Los Angeles Raiders 9-3 the following week to drop San Francisco's record to 6-5.

Walsh would then name Montana the starting quarterback for the rest of the season as the 49ers would go on a four-game winning streak to clinch the NFC West division title with a 10-6 record as San Francisco would beat the Minnesota Vikings 34-9 in the Divisional Round, then knocked off the Chicago Bears 28-3 in the NFC Championship Game to send the 49ers to their third Super Bowl in eight years.

In Super Bowl XXIII, Montana would lead the 49ers on 11-play, 92-yard touchdown drive in the final minutes of the game as his 10-yard touchdown pass to John Taylor would give San Francisco a 20-16 win and its third Lombardi Trophy in what would be Walsh's final game as the 49ers' head coach.

Meanwhile, the Cardinals seemed destined to return to the postseason especially after defeating the New York Giants 24-17 the following week to improve their record to 7-4 only to go on a five-game losing streak to end the season with a 7-9 record as Phoenix failed to earn a playoff spot.

The following season would be a tumultuous one for the Cardinals as Lomax missed the entire season because of an arthritic hip, which would lead to his retirement in 1990, while head coach Gene Stallings announced he would step down as head coach at the end of the season, only for general manager Larry Wilson to fire him and replace him with running backs coach Hank Kuhlmann.

The Cardinals would go 0-5 under Kuhlmann as they would finish the '89 season with a 5-11 record as it would they would have to wait until 1998 to finally earn a trip to the NFL postseason.