Daisy Does the 49ers: Niners Roast Cardinals
San Francisco 49ers quarterback Alex Smith, left, greets Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner, right, at the end of their NFL football game in San Francisco, Monday, Dec. 14, 2009. San Francisco won the game 24-9. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
The 49ers dominated the Arizona Cardinals last night in a 24-9 victory that kept the Cardinals from clinching the NFC West and, if you’re completely naive and stupidly optimistic when it comes to matters of the heart (a.k.a. football), left the Niners with a (quickly fading) glimmer of hope of making it to the playoffs.
In brief: Arizona just needs to win two out of its next three games (against the 2-11 Lions, the 1-12 Rams, and the 9-4 Packers) to clinch the NFC West. In order for that to happen, their plane will need to crash on the way to Detroit this week. Fingers crossed!
That being said, I don’t want to take away from our defense’s amazing performance (seven Arizona turnovers!) or Frank Gore’s dominating presence (167 yards in 25 carries). Even Alex Smith looked decent and remained poised, despite coming out in the first quarter a bit amped-up, resulting in some pretty crappy passes. (I still don’t think he’s a starting QB, but I’ll keep him until we find his replacement. You know, since it’s up to me and all…)
Other thoughts from the game:
- It’s way easier to behave yourself when you’re ahead 17-0 at the half. I didn’t scream at one single Cardinals fan the entire game. Good for daisy, bad for this post.
- Seven turnovers should produce more than 24 points. (See above-statement about Alex Smith.)
- The American flag the 49ers bring out for the Star-Spangled Banner has so many holes, it looks as though it actually lived through the “perilous fight.” I’m not really a National Anthem kind of girl, but it is sort of embarrassing to wave a shredding flag around during MNF.
- San Francisco has got to improve the MUNI game day experience. Not only did I see tons of people getting passed at bus stops, it took an hour and a half for us to go seven miles. I almost missed kickoff and daisy does not like missing kickoff. In fact, it makes her refer to herself in the third person and no one likes that.
- Unsolicited advice: Don’t hold your hand up in front of your face when high-fiving a stranger or you run the risk of him slapping your hand so hard that you accidentally punch yourself in the face. I’m just saying...
All in all, it was a fun game to watch, but instead of the shit-eating grin I usually have after a win of that magnitude, I can’t help feel like it was a lot of great football a little too late. The Niners have played some great games this season, but when it mattered, they just didn’t come through. That being said, my fingers are crossed for a miracle. Even if it does come in the form of a fiery plane crash.
In other, probably more important, news: how pissed are you that MTV decided to NOT air Snooki getting punched in the face during this week’s “Jersey Shore?” Thank God I have it DVRed from “scenes from the next” and can watch it in slow motion to my heart’s content.
Next week: PHILADELPHIA over San Francisco.