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The game-winning score for the 49ers on Sunday vs. the Cardinals came from perhaps the most unlikely source on the team.
Jimmy Garoppolo dropped back facing heavy pressure on a first-and-10 from Arizona’s 25. San Francisco was already in field goal range with 38 seconds left and trailing 26-23, but a touchdown would give them a lead and a stranglehold on Sunday’s game.
He quickly unloaded a floating pass over the middle that running back Jeff Wilson Jr. snagged after getting open out of the backfield. The Cardinals were in a Cover-0, which left the middle of the field open and Wilson cruised in for a game-winning score.
It’d be hard to fault the Cardinals if they didn’t have eyes on Wilson. He was the No. 3 running back Sunday, hadn’t played a snap, and was only active because of an injury to Matt Breida.
The 25-yard touchdown was Wilson’s first touch, and only his second catch of the year. He also had a two-yard reception against Arizona in Week 9. It was also Wilson’s first-career touchdown catch. He had 12 catches for 98 yards in six games at the end of last season.
Not only was Wilson inactive last week vs. the Seahawks, but he didn’t even make the initial 53-man roster. A crowded backfield with Breida, Tevin Coleman and Raheem Mostert pushed Wilson to the outside of the roster bubble. He landed on the 49ers’ practice squad after clearing waivers, then got promoted after Coleman sprained his ankle in the first game of the year.
Wilson’s filled out a very specific niche for San Francisco. He has 25 carries for 78 yards and four touchdowns on the ground in seven games as the team’s short-yardage back. His role has diminished as the backfield’s gotten healthy, but Breida aggravated an ankle injury Monday night and needed to sit out Sunday to rest it.
Wilson wasn’t the only unlikely hero for the 49ers. Tight end Ross Dwelley caught two touchdown passes, and made a vital third-down conversion on the game-winning drive to set up Wilson’s touchdown. Those were Dwelley’s first-career touchdowns in his 21st game. His role was expanded with George Kittle sidelined with knee and ankle injuries.
Getting production from the back end of the roster has been key to the 49ers’ ability to overcome injuries, and it helped them pull out a nail-biter Sunday vs. Arizona.