Jimmy Garoppolo tied a career high with four touchdown passes as the San Francisco 49ers defeated the Arizona Cardinals 38-10 Monday night in Mexico City.
The 49ers (6-4) won their third consecutive game to move into a tie with idle Seattle for first place in the NFC West.
Garoppolo completed 20 of 29 passes for 228 yards and threw two TD passes apiece to Brandon Aiyuk and George Kittle.
San Francisco’s other touchdown came on a 39-yard run by wide receiver Deebo Samuel.
The Cardinals (4-7) played without starting quarterback Kyler Murray for the second straight game because of a hamstring injury.
Veteran Colt McCoy, who guided Arizona to a victory against the defending Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams last week, had no such luck at Estadio Azteca. McCoy was 24-of-34 passing for 218 yards with one interception.
The Cardinals held a 3-0 lead after one quarter on a 40-yard field goal by Matt Prater before the 49ers got acclimated to the elevation change and the slippery turf from a downpour that began just before the opening kickoff.
San Francisco outscored the Cardinals 31-7 over the next two quarters to pull away.
Garoppolo threw TD passes of 7 yards to Aiyuk and 39 yards to Kittle before Arizona scored its lone touchdown on a 2-yard run by James Conner.
The 49ers’ Robbie Gould converted a 39-yard field goal with 43 seconds left in the half to make it 17-10.
Samuel scored on an end-around on San Francisco’s opening drive of the second half, then Garoppolo threw two more scoring strikes, hitting Aiyuk from 13 yards and Kittle from 32, the latter early in the fourth quarter.
Elijah Mitchell led the 49ers with 59 yards rushing on nine attempts. Christian McCaffrey added 39 yards on seven carries and made seven receptions for 67 yards, matching Samuel for the team lead in receptions.
Conner carried 14 times for 42 yards for the Cardinals. DeAndre Hopkins and Greg Dortch each had nine catches, racking up 91 and 103 yards, respectively.
It was a rematch of a 2005 contest at the same stadium that was the NFL’s first regular-season game played outside the United States.
–Field Level Media