http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/recap?gameId=251002022
McCown, Rackers lead Cards past 49ers in Mexico
Individual Leaders
San Francisco Passing
C/ATT YDS TD INT
Rattay 11/21 126 0 1
Smith 6/10 34 0 0
Arizona Passing
C/ATT YDS TD INT
McCown 32/46 385 2 0
San Francisco Rushing
CAR YDS TD LG
Barlow 10 45 0 11
Gore 2 4 0 4
Arizona Rushing
CAR YDS TD LG
Shipp 16 42 0 15
McCown 6 32 0 12
San Francisco Receiving
REC YDS TD LG
Lloyd 7 102 0 28
Morton 3 46 0 19
Arizona Receiving
REC YDS TD LG
Boldin 8 116 1 27
Fitzgerald 7 102 1 41
MEXICO CITY (AP) -- The NFL threw a fiesta at Azteca Stadium, and the biggest regular-season crowd in league history turned up wearing vibrant colors and singing raucous cheers.
Mexico's 103,467 fans created a thrilling atmosphere at the league's first regular-season game outside the United States -- even though the Arizona Cardinals' 31-14 victory over the San Francisco 49ers wasn't exactly the most savory version of "futbol americano."
Josh McCown passed for a career-high 385 yards and two touchdowns against the Niners' pathetic pass defense, and Neil Rackers kicked a career-best six field goals through the 7,700-foot air.
But the sloppy play and one-sided result in a game between two of the NFL's worst teams seemed secondary to the goodwill and international exposure of a foreign venture the league hopes to turn into an annual affair.
The cavernous arena was packed to the rafters with a crowd that exceeded the league's most optimistic projections two days ago, proving the sport's avid following in Mexico is second to none outside the United States.
"The experience in Mexico City has been wonderful, and this capped it off," said Rackers, who fell one short of the NFL record for field goals in a game. "It was wonderful. They're great fans, really into the game, more knowledgeable than I thought they would be. It was probably the best crowd I've been around."
The Cardinals (1-3) agreed to give up a home game to make history, and the NFC West rivals played in front of 68,398 more fans than they drew for last season's meeting at Sun Devil Stadium. The crowd topped the previous NFL record for a regular-season game, when 102,368 fans saw the Los Angeles Rams play the 49ers at the L.A. Coliseum on Nov. 10, 1957.
Derek Smith and Derrick Johnson scored on fumble recoveries for San Francisco (1-3) in the first quarter, with Smith scoring on the game's first play and Johnson returning his 78 yards. But Arizona scored the rest of the night's points, with Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin making tough catches for scores as the Cardinals avenged two overtime losses to the NFL's worst team last year.
Rackers loved the mountain air in a city 2,000 feet higher than Denver, connecting from 40, 45, 48, 23, 43 and 24 yards -- but the Cards decided not to kick one last, late field goal to tie the league record held by four players.
"I'd rather be a gentleman and not kick a field goal against a team we've got to play again this season," Rackers said.
Mexico's biggest city was a natural choice for this trailblazing game. The NFL is widely popular south of the border, with nearly one in five Mexicans claiming an interest in the league. The NFL opened an office in Mexico in 1998, with an eight-person staff overseeing its growing profile.
The league's popularity was evident to visitors arriving at Azteca, where the number of fans wearing replica jerseys -- more Dallas Cowboys than Niners or Cardinals -- nearly outnumbered the hundreds of police and security officials ringing the stadium.
Both teams took the field to wild cheers amid cheerleaders and fireworks, but free safety Robert Griffith got the biggest roars when he led the Cardinals out of their giant inflatable helmet wildly waving a Mexican flag.
Only a few empty seats were visible in the upper deck of the famed soccer venue. Mexican fans showed they know football, cheering for surging ball-carriers and whistling at San Francisco's poor offensive execution.
And when the game got a bit dull early in the second quarter, they did "La Ola" -- the wave. When McCown made a spinning move to dodge a tackler in the fourth quarter, the fans shouted "Ole!"
Two-time MVP Kurt Warner was on the cover of the game programs, but Arizona's veteran quarterback missed the game with a groin injury. McCown, who started 13 games last season, started slowly but became the game's star when he realized the Niners' pass defense, with three fringe NFL players among its top five defensive backs, wouldn't stop anybody.
San Francisco scored two defensive touchdowns in a wacky first quarter that provided a skewed perspective for any first-time NFL fans in attendance. It also made the 49ers' defense, which allowed an NFL-worst 101 points in the first three games, look much better than it probably is.
After Joe Nedney's opening kickoff sailed far out of the end zone, Bryant Young broke through the Arizona line and forced McCown's fumble. Brandon Moore picked it up and rambled to the end zone, where he fumbled, as well -- but Smith emerged from an end-zone scrum with the ball held aloft.
The Cardinals drove 70 yards to the San Francisco 13 later in the quarter, but Marcel Shipp fumbled. Johnson, a rookie in the starting lineup after Mike Rumph's season-ending foot injury Wednesday, picked it up on the bounce and ran for the score.
The Cardinals didn't get into the end zone until a 69-yard drive in just 63 seconds, finishing with Fitzgerald's acrobatic 17-yard catch in the corner of the end zone 6 seconds before halftime.
McCown, Rackers lead Cards past 49ers in Mexico
Individual Leaders
San Francisco Passing
C/ATT YDS TD INT
Rattay 11/21 126 0 1
Smith 6/10 34 0 0
Arizona Passing
C/ATT YDS TD INT
McCown 32/46 385 2 0
San Francisco Rushing
CAR YDS TD LG
Barlow 10 45 0 11
Gore 2 4 0 4
Arizona Rushing
CAR YDS TD LG
Shipp 16 42 0 15
McCown 6 32 0 12
San Francisco Receiving
REC YDS TD LG
Lloyd 7 102 0 28
Morton 3 46 0 19
Arizona Receiving
REC YDS TD LG
Boldin 8 116 1 27
Fitzgerald 7 102 1 41
MEXICO CITY (AP) -- The NFL threw a fiesta at Azteca Stadium, and the biggest regular-season crowd in league history turned up wearing vibrant colors and singing raucous cheers.
Mexico's 103,467 fans created a thrilling atmosphere at the league's first regular-season game outside the United States -- even though the Arizona Cardinals' 31-14 victory over the San Francisco 49ers wasn't exactly the most savory version of "futbol americano."
Josh McCown passed for a career-high 385 yards and two touchdowns against the Niners' pathetic pass defense, and Neil Rackers kicked a career-best six field goals through the 7,700-foot air.
But the sloppy play and one-sided result in a game between two of the NFL's worst teams seemed secondary to the goodwill and international exposure of a foreign venture the league hopes to turn into an annual affair.
The cavernous arena was packed to the rafters with a crowd that exceeded the league's most optimistic projections two days ago, proving the sport's avid following in Mexico is second to none outside the United States.
"The experience in Mexico City has been wonderful, and this capped it off," said Rackers, who fell one short of the NFL record for field goals in a game. "It was wonderful. They're great fans, really into the game, more knowledgeable than I thought they would be. It was probably the best crowd I've been around."
The Cardinals (1-3) agreed to give up a home game to make history, and the NFC West rivals played in front of 68,398 more fans than they drew for last season's meeting at Sun Devil Stadium. The crowd topped the previous NFL record for a regular-season game, when 102,368 fans saw the Los Angeles Rams play the 49ers at the L.A. Coliseum on Nov. 10, 1957.
Derek Smith and Derrick Johnson scored on fumble recoveries for San Francisco (1-3) in the first quarter, with Smith scoring on the game's first play and Johnson returning his 78 yards. But Arizona scored the rest of the night's points, with Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin making tough catches for scores as the Cardinals avenged two overtime losses to the NFL's worst team last year.
Rackers loved the mountain air in a city 2,000 feet higher than Denver, connecting from 40, 45, 48, 23, 43 and 24 yards -- but the Cards decided not to kick one last, late field goal to tie the league record held by four players.
"I'd rather be a gentleman and not kick a field goal against a team we've got to play again this season," Rackers said.
Mexico's biggest city was a natural choice for this trailblazing game. The NFL is widely popular south of the border, with nearly one in five Mexicans claiming an interest in the league. The NFL opened an office in Mexico in 1998, with an eight-person staff overseeing its growing profile.
The league's popularity was evident to visitors arriving at Azteca, where the number of fans wearing replica jerseys -- more Dallas Cowboys than Niners or Cardinals -- nearly outnumbered the hundreds of police and security officials ringing the stadium.
Both teams took the field to wild cheers amid cheerleaders and fireworks, but free safety Robert Griffith got the biggest roars when he led the Cardinals out of their giant inflatable helmet wildly waving a Mexican flag.
Only a few empty seats were visible in the upper deck of the famed soccer venue. Mexican fans showed they know football, cheering for surging ball-carriers and whistling at San Francisco's poor offensive execution.
And when the game got a bit dull early in the second quarter, they did "La Ola" -- the wave. When McCown made a spinning move to dodge a tackler in the fourth quarter, the fans shouted "Ole!"
Two-time MVP Kurt Warner was on the cover of the game programs, but Arizona's veteran quarterback missed the game with a groin injury. McCown, who started 13 games last season, started slowly but became the game's star when he realized the Niners' pass defense, with three fringe NFL players among its top five defensive backs, wouldn't stop anybody.
San Francisco scored two defensive touchdowns in a wacky first quarter that provided a skewed perspective for any first-time NFL fans in attendance. It also made the 49ers' defense, which allowed an NFL-worst 101 points in the first three games, look much better than it probably is.
After Joe Nedney's opening kickoff sailed far out of the end zone, Bryant Young broke through the Arizona line and forced McCown's fumble. Brandon Moore picked it up and rambled to the end zone, where he fumbled, as well -- but Smith emerged from an end-zone scrum with the ball held aloft.
The Cardinals drove 70 yards to the San Francisco 13 later in the quarter, but Marcel Shipp fumbled. Johnson, a rookie in the starting lineup after Mike Rumph's season-ending foot injury Wednesday, picked it up on the bounce and ran for the score.
The Cardinals didn't get into the end zone until a 69-yard drive in just 63 seconds, finishing with Fitzgerald's acrobatic 17-yard catch in the corner of the end zone 6 seconds before halftime.
