Arizona Cardinals: 3 things we learned

And there are no such things as moral victories, no?

Against the 49ers’ struggling front seven, Arizona’s blockers paved the way for only 2.4 yards per carry on Sunday, and that might constitute the better half of their performance. “We were focused prior to this game”.

NFC West teams will battle in today’s AZ Cardinals vs San Francisco 49ers game.

The newly-cemented signal caller outshined Palmer, who finished with 260 yards on 23 completions, but couldn’t finish a late-game comeback after WR Anquan Boldin came up two yards short of a first down on a 4th-and-20 to close the game. “But I told him as well: ‘Man, we need you for the rest of the season. We can definitely build on this”.

Celek was blocking for Draughn on an outside run when Draughn was tackled on the back of Celek’s ankle.

EMPTY SEATS: Nearly an hour into the game at $1.3 billion, second-year Levi’s Stadium, the venue looked about 75 percent full even if listed as a 70,799 sellout. Also, Carlos Hyde will be missing his fourth consecutive game, causing San Francisco to have question marks at running back.

There is no question that the Cardinals are the better football team by far and they will blow the 49ers out. “They felt embarrassed from the 47-7 game in Arizona so they weren’t going to let that happen again”.

It’s true this is a harsh grade considering the woes of the offensive line, but how much faith do you have in this group at this point in the season?

Michael Stafford managed to claim a career high five touchdown passes, with three of them going to Calvin Johnson, as the Lions claimed their third straight win. “And that’s what it came down to and I failed to put a touchdown on the board, and that’s on me”. The defense should continue to thrive as the season wears down. But, he reverted to the Old Gabbert in the fourth quarter.

The 49ers (3-8) were penalized more than in any game this woeful season (13 penalties, 81 yards), and none loomed larger than a roughing-the-passer penalty that nullified a Quinton Dial sack on the Cardinals’ winning drive. The Niners disagreed; Palmer said it was the right call, and the drive continued.

Nelson said the call was similar to the one the week before against the Bengals in which Palmer hit him for a 64-yard TD.

“We were in “zero” coverage; everyone had their backs turned”, free safety Eric Reid said. Until then, fans will just have to hope for the best.

“We don’t even want to talk about that”. I mean they can’t count to three…I got so many explanations I got exhausted of them because they were just running out of them.

The Niners’ bend-but-don’t-break defense, which was missing the concussed Ahmad Brooks at outside linebacker, had finally given way. The 49ers are still playing for Jim Tomsula, which wasn’t as obvious the previous Sunday in Seattle. We don’t have to mention that any chance they had at home-field advantage throughout the postseason would have been reduced to a whisper-thin pulse.