SANTA CLARA, Calif. – The air in and around Levi’s Stadium on Sunday wasn’t soupy, unless you prefer a bisque the color of dirty dishwater. It looked more like fog, only the smokey matter floating around was harmful enough that normal humans were cautioned not to exert themselves outdoors.

Those working under NFL contracts, however, are not normal humans.

So the Cardinals game against the 49ers was played as scheduled, despite a sky turned gray because of wildfires.

If this had been typical fall Sunday, you would not have seen the grass that is growing in the cracks in the parking lots outside the stadium, because there would be acres of tailgaters eating, drinking and waiting to watch the 49ers, the defending NFC champion, open the season.

Instead, the lots were nearly empty. And the only objects in the stands during the game were cut out figures of people spaced in the sections behind the end zones.

Six months ago, it was hard to imagine how a game would look played in an empty stadium. Then the pandemic came in earnest, and today it’s hard to imagine feeling comfortable sitting in a full stadium again.

“It was a bit eerie,” Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury said. “It was a different feeling for the players, and it’s going to take some getting used to.”

The Cardinals adapted well on Sunday, winning 24-20 and leaving the Bay Area with clear eyes and full hearts.

“I hope that’s a sign of maturity,” Kingsbury said of the victory.

It’s the kind of game the Cardinals have lost the last two years. Again and Again. They fell behind early, gained their first lead in the fourth quarter, lost it and regained it.

A year ago, when they finished 5-10-1, they would have lost the lead again.

But on this Sunday, they didn’t. It’s impossible to say if this will become a trend. The Cardinals acknowledged all the fine print that should be attached — it’s one of 16 games, etc. — but they are feeling good about themselves after week one.

That hasn’t happened since 2015, the last time they won a season opener.

There were signs of improvement from a year ago. A defense that stopped the 49ers twice inside the 10-yard line and again late in the fourth quarter to clinch the victory. A new receiver, DeAndre Hopkins, who caught 14 passes for 151 yards. A second-year quarterback, Kyler Murray, who was smart enough to begin using his legs when his arm wasn’t getting him anywhere.

The future in Arizona, said Hopkins, is bright.

“I knew we had something special from the day I walked into the building,” he said, referring to Cardinals headquarters in Tempe.

The Cardinals talked all last week about the need to be engaged on the sideline, as well as on the field. With no crowd present, it was important, they said, to cheer and congratulate teammates.

That came through via the sideline microphones. Occasionally, the sound was piped through the press box and you could hear Murray yell, “Let’s Go” after a touchdown. And assistant coaches screaming at officials to call an illegal formation, and begging defenders to “Get the ball out!”

It’s not stretch to say that a year ago, the Cardinals would have lost this game. Because they did, including twice to the 49ers. Few teams played the 49ers tougher than the Cardinals, but they broke down late in both games, which bad teams have a tendency to do.

This team, in contrast, didn’t panic went things didn’t go well.

And there were plenty of those things. Penalties ranging from tripping to holding to intentional grounding. Losing a starting safety, Jalen Thompson, on the first series of the game, and center Mason Cole halfway through. Giving up a 76-yard touchdown pass to a running back. Searching desperately for something that worked offensively.

“Players were rusty,” Kingsbury said. “I was real rusty with my play calling. It took me a while quarter to settle in some.”

The biggest change, though, was on defense. After the loss here year ago, reporters gathered around defensive coordinator Vance Joseph to ask why he had Chandler Jones, an elite pass rusher, trying to cover a running back on the play that decided a game.

In contrast, the Cardinals had to be giddy Sunday evening as their plane climbed above the smoke that covers the West Coast.

They can clearly see they are 1-0. And when you work for a franchise that is over .500 for the first time since the end of  the 2015 season, that view is spectacular.

Reach Kent Somers at [email protected]. Follow him on twitter @kentsomers

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