“The first week (videos) were kind of slow coming in, and I was like, ‘This is going to be the all-time backfire,’ ” Burke said. “But over the last week they started pouring in.
It had an impact, because Watt did what he wanted Sunday, sacking 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy a pair of times to bring his season total to 12½ and his career total to 114½. His final game included five tackles, three tackles for loss, two quarterback hits and a pass defensed.
He didn’t get the win he desperately wanted. The Cardinals (4-13) lost their seventh straight, while the 49ers (13-4) won their 10th straight as they hurtle into the playoffs.
The big non-Watt result out of Sunday for the Cardinals? With the Broncos’ victory over the Chargers, the Cardinals will have the No. 3 overall pick in the draft, behind the Bears and Texans.
The completely undermanned Cardinals got an early highlight when wide receiver A.J. Green – who seems likely to be retiring himself – hauled in a 77-yard touchdown pass on the game’s first possession from David Blough. After that, though, the game eventually slid sideways, Watt’s farewell the story to watch.
He played hard the whole game, until coach Kliff Kingsbury pulled him off the field at the two-minute warning, the Levi’s crowd giving him an ovation that Watt called “classy” afterward.
“We were going let him go until the wheels fell off,” Kingsbury said.
Kingsbury knew his future would be a story postgame – “Like I said earlier in the week, it’s been all about trying to win this game,” he said – and praised Watt for what the veteran provided.
“Watching the professionalism, the effort, he never left the building really for two years,” Kingsbury said.
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