The Sports Xchange

GLENDALE, Ariz. — It’s early, but it’s looking as though the Arizona Cardinals are on the verge of dominating the NFC West. They certainly dominated the San Francisco 49ers and quarterback Colin Kaepernick on Sunday at University of Phoenix Stadium.

The Cardinals intercepted Kaepernick four times, returning two of the picks for first-quarter touchdowns as they improved to 3-0 with a 47-7 rout of the 49ers.

Coming off a 48-23 victory at Chicago, the Cardinals are averaging an NFL-high 42 points per game.

With the victory, Arizona has a two-game lead over the rest of the NFC West. San Francisco, St. Louis and Seattle all stand at 1-2 after three games.

“I thought we came out with a purpose,” Cardinals coach Bruce Arians said. “We played for 60 minutes with that purpose and that was to get into first place in our division.”

The 49ers (1-2) couldn’t get anything mounted offensively against Arizona’s aggressive defense. With less than five minutes remaining, Kaepernick had completed only one more pass (five) than he had intercepted. And he had only thrown for 33 yards.

He finished 9 of 19 for 67 yards along with his four picks. Kaepernick ran for 46 yards and scored the 49ers’ only touchdown, tucking the ball and running for a 12-yard score.

“No. Never crossed my mind,” Kaepernick said when asked if he could have foreseen his type of performance. “Very hard to deal with. Very hard to see myself go out and play like that and hurt this team the way I did.”

The Cardinals might have shut out the 49ers had punter Drew Butler not made a poor kick that was returned 37 yards by former rugby star Jarryd Hayne. That return helped set up Kaepernick’s touchdown run.

Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer was 20 of 32 for 311 yards with two touchdowns — both to Larry Fitzgerald, who caught nine passes for 134 yards and scores from of 4 and 8 yards.

What we learned about the Cardinals:

–1. They’re taking care of business. New Orleans, Chicago and San Francisco might not be world beaters this season, but the Cardinals have defeated all three of them to sit atop the NFC West and hold a two-game lead over everyone else. Coach Bruce Arians greeted his players a day after last week’s 48-23 rout of the Bears in Chicago by telling them, “You’re not s—!” Asked after Sunday’s 47-7 wipeout of the 49ers if that’s still what he’s telling his team, Arians replied with a smile, “They smell just a little better.”

–2. They can still count on their old dog coming up with a few tricks. Wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald might be 32, but for the second week in a row he turned in a monster game. A week after being named NFL Offensive Player of the Week by catching eight passes for 112 yards and a career-high three touchdowns, Fitzgerald caught nine passes for 134 yards and two more scores against the 49ers. “He can do that week in and week out,” quarterback Carson Palmer said. “… I don’t need to say it, but he’s pretty good.”

–3. Their defense is a scoring threat. By returning two first-quarter interceptions against Colin Kaepernick for touchdowns, the Cardinals have now scored 12 defensive touchdowns since the start of the 2013 season. That’s the most over that time period by any team in the league. Justin Bethel and Tyrann Mathieu each had a pick-six Sunday. Last week against the Bears, Tony Jefferson returned a Jay Cutler interception for a score. The two pick-sixes against Kaepernick virtually ruined the 49ers for the rest of the game. “That’s a situation where that’s the most perfect possible way to start the game on defense and the crowd stayed in there for four quarters and made it tough on them,” said cornerback Jerraud Powers, who also intercepted Kaepernick on Sunday.

Etc.:

–RB Chris Johnson, making his second straight start in place of the injured Andre Ellington, rushed for 110 yards on 22 carries — a 5.0 average per run. He also scored his first two rushing touchdowns for Arizona since signing with the team after training camp began. He’s now rushed for a total of 182 yards in the back-to-back games. “I don’t know how he was on the street (as a free agent),” coach Bruce Arians said.

–CB Justin Bethel’s 21-yard interception return for a touchdown came while being involved in his first defensive snap of the season. Bethel has a handful of packages designed for him to come in and play during nickel situations, but the opportunity never presented itself until Sunday against the 49ers. “He is the ultimate team guy,” Cardinals defensive coordinator James Bettcher said. “You see all the plays he makes on special teams and he just waited his turn.” Bethel has made the Pro Bowl twice as a special teams gunner.

–LG Mike Iupati desperately wanted to play Sunday against his former team, but said his surgically-repaired left knee needed at least one more week to fully heal and get stronger. “It was really close,” coach Bruce Arians said. “He just came to me and said he wasn’t quite ready. He didn’t feel like he had enough power in that leg. You always go with the player in that situation and I trust the guys that are out there.” Ted Larsen is starting at guard until Iupati is able to return.