The 49ers didn’t hold the ball long in the first quarter and couldn’t get much going on offense. Arizona ran 14 more plays and gained 97 more yards over the first 15 minutes and hold a 9-0 lead going into the second.

Here’s what stood out in the first quarter:

The tale of two pass interference calls

The 49ers fell victim to the rare overturned pass interference call when Richard Sherman was called for the penalty after a review that set Arizona up with the ball at the 3-yard-line. Two plays later Kyler Murray found Charles Clay in the end zone, but Christian Kirk was called for offensive pass interference to nullify the score. The Cardinals couldn’t regain momentum after the Kirk penalty and had to settle for a field goal. The 49ers caught a break with the offensive pass interference and was able to hold strong within the red zone.

Offense comes out stale

The 49ers offense probably wanted to respond better to the Cardinals 10-play drive but only could muster five yards. The third-down play could have shown some issues with the receivers as Jimmy Garoppolo had plenty of time in the pocket which gave the receivers plenty of time to get open, but they couldn’t do so. With as much pressure as the receivers got following their performance against Seattle, the opening drive, especially the third down play, seems a bit alarming for the group.

Another Sherman pass interference leads to an Arizona touchdown

Sherman followed his pass interference that set up Arizona inside the 5 with another pass interference that set up Arizona inside the 5. Sherman once again made contact with Kirk on a shot to the end zone, but made contact at the 5-yard-line as the ball was in the air and was called for his second pass interference. This time the call hurt the 49ers as two plays later Murray found Larry Fitzgerald to give Arizona a two score lead.