Victory keeps 49ers playoff hopes alive
SAN FRANCISCO (MCT) — There was a clinch Monday night, all right. It was Frank Gore leaping into the arms of Vernon Davis for a happy embrace after the San Francisco 49ers running back pounded in the game-sealing touchdown.
As for the Arizona Cardinals’ hopes of clinching the NFC West, they will have to wait.
The 49ers fended off elimination in the division race with a 24-9 victory at Candlestick Park, capping a season sweep of the defending NFC champions and keeping alive the 49ers’ faint hopes of reaching the postseason for the first time since 2002.
The 49ers (6-7) are two games behind the Cardinals (8-5) with three to play.
“We’re believing,” said linebacker Ahmad Brooks, who had three sacks and two forced fumbles. “We’ll need some help, but we’re believing we can make it there.”
This game looked a lot like coach Mike Singletary’s original formula for this season, with lots of defense (the 49ers forced seven turnovers, including a franchise-record five recovered fumbles) and a powerful running game (Gore had 167 rushing yards).
“I just told myself that whenever I got the ball, not to press,” Gore said. “I just wanted to go out there and be myself.”
Gore rebounded from a dormant stretch for his first 100-yard rushing game since Nov. 12 against Chicago. The running resurgence came after Gore met in Singletary’s office last week, when the coach assured his top back that he wasn’t forgotten.
Then he delivered, giving Gore the ball 25 times.
“I thought Frank ran OK,” Singletary said in a rare moment of understatement. “He didn’t get loose like he wanted to, but he got the yards.”
The defense, meanwhile, harassed Arizona quarterback Kurt Warner from start to finish. Warner entered the game on a red-hot roll, having gone four games — a total of 121 passes — without an interception. But the 49ers got him twice, both in the first half.
In all, the 49ers forced five turnovers before halftime to tie a franchise record set Sept. 14, 1997, at New Orleans.
“When I’m out there, I play with no hesitation in my game,” said free safety Dashon Goldson, who had two forced fumbles and an interception. “When I see my shot, I take them. Sometimes I miss, sometimes I make them. But I tell you what: I’m going to make more than I miss, and I did tonight.”
Warner completed 16-of-29 passes for season lows in yards (178) and passer rating (44.9). He was sacked four times.
Still, the Cardinals delivered a brief scare at the start of the fourth quarter. Beanie Wells cut the score to 17-9 with a 1-yard touchdown, and the Cardinals would have been one point closer had Ray McDonald not blocked the ensuing point-after attempt.
But just about the time the Candlestick fans started fretting about another late collapse, yet another Arizona turnover helped the 49ers put the game away.
Goldson, capping his big night, jarred the ball loose from Wells for a fumble with 11:35 to play in the game. Parys Haralson recovered at the Cardinals’ 16-yard line.
On the fourth play after the turnover, Gore delivered the exclamation point. He pounded in a 2-yard run on third-and-goal behind a stadium-rattling block from left guard David Baas.
Gore’s 10th touchdown of the season gave the 49ers a 24-9 lead.
“My O-line did a great job tonight,” Gore said. “I just told myself to be patient.
In a rarity this season, the 49ers offense looked balanced as the passing game contributed, too. Alex Smith threw touchdown passes to Davis (5 yards) and Michael Crabtree (35 yards) in the first half.
Davis’ catch gave him an NFL-best 11 this season and marked his fourth game in a row with a score.
Smith completed 19-of-35 passes for 144 yards. He ran his streak to 102 passes without an interception before Darnell Dockett snared one on the 49ers’ opening drive. Things got better from there, as the 49ers built a 17-0 lead.
That was plenty for a defense that had little trouble with the Cardinals’ vast array of offensive threats. Larry Fitzgerald, who sustained a sprained right knee early in the third quarter, had only two catches for 22 yards. Cornerback Shawntae Spencer shadowed him for most of the night.
Arizona’s other star receiver, Anquan Boldin, had five catches for 40 yards with a long of 13.
The Cardinals might have turned the ball over seven times. But they vowed not to lose their grip on the NFC crown.
“We’re not doubting ourselves at all,” Boldin said. “This is a game that we will put behind us and we’ll continue to keep our heads down and work.”
