49ers defense comes alive in loss to Arizona

“It seems like he takes care of the football way better”.

Coach Jim Tomsula said he has always liked the 49ers depth at tight end, adding You can go back to training camp, I always said that’s a group I’ve always been really impressed with. Just follow our HD TV Link bellow and Start Watching on your favorite sports live and more. “As offensive linemen, we pick up tendencies of defensive linemen”.

Today’s Arizona Cardinals vs San Francisco 49ers NFL football game has a start time schedule of 4:05pm eastern time and airs on TV channel FOX in some markets along with DirecTV Sunday Ticket nationwide. A personal feather in his cap: Gabbert out-dueled MVP contender Carson Palmer.

But also: It sent the 49ers to 3-8, guaranteed they won’t improve on last season’s 8-8 record (that got Harbaugh fired) and probably will be a lot worse, and Gabbert’s sharp offense produced all of 13 points when the team needed 20 to win.

Arizona wide receiver Michael Floyd said it was obvious the first game had stuck with the 49ers.

At the end of the game, Gabbert was driving the 49ers toward a game-winning score. “Awful spike, missed extra point”, wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald said.

“I think (Mathieu’s criticism) comes along with film study throughout the week”, center Daniel Kilgore said.

Regardless, there were other San Francisco players who felt like it was them versus the world on Sunday.

However, Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians wasn’t so silent. Rookie running back David Johnson carried the load for most of the second half and finished the game with 21 yards on eight carries.

NOTES: San Francisco backup TE Garrett Celek sustained a left ankle injury late in the first quarter and did not return.

Palmer parlayed those questionable calls into a winning drive, further catapulted by his 34-yard completion (off his back foot) to J.J. Nelson at the 1-yard line.

If that Week 1 momentum wasn’t halted by a 43-18 loss at Pittsburgh the following Sunday, then the Cardinals extinguished the 49ers’ false hopes with a 47-7 rout on September 27 in the desert.

11 OCTOBER 2015: Arizona Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer (3) runs with the ball during game action between the Arizona Cardinals and the Detroit Lions during a regular season game played at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan.

“There’s no debate here”, Palmer said. “He hit me right in the face with the crown of his helmet”, Palmer said. He actually became a better player for making that mistake.

“I can’t take a sack in that situation”, Gabbert said of the third-down play. That’s just the way it goes.

The 49ers were penalized 13 times for 81 yards.

“The officials were struggling mightily”, Arians said.

Believe it or not, nearly half of Fitzgerald’s receptions this season (44.6 percent) have come in his last four games.

Blaine Gabbert may have been on the losing side of things, but the former second-stringer completed 25-of-36 passes for 318 yards and a touchdown against a tough Arizona defense.

The odd game featured 26 first downs by the Cards and a huge time-of-possession advantage (37 minutes to 22) but the Cardinals had fewer yards than the Niners.

-RB Chris Johnson left the game Sunday against San Francisco with an injury to his left knee.