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.
