MNF Recap: 49ers at Cardinals

The weekly recaps are written by former Stanford kicker Derek Belch.

49ers 27
Cardinals 6

The Night that Could Have Been

Here are three of the 49ers’ first five plays last night: Frank Gore to the right for 25 yards; Frank Gore to the left for 15 yards; Frank Gore to the left for four yards. Gore would carry again a few plays later, this time a one yard loss due to Gore stopping and going down as soon as he took the handoff. And then he headed to the locker room. He returned briefly, registering carries of 9 and 5 yards, and then took himself out of the game for good with a hip strain. In less than one quarter of work, Gore carried 5 times for 52 yards.

In his place came Brian Westbrook, the former Philadelphia Eagles star who signed with San Francisco this offseason in a backup role in the hope that the 49ers would be a contender. Westbrook performed like it was 2008 (the last time he had a 100 yard rushing game), carrying 23 times for 136 yards and a touchdown. He did exactly what was asked of him no matter where he was on the field and, despite only rushing five times all year leading up to Monday’s game, proved he can still handle a full workload if asked to do so.

But how many fantasy owners actually had Westbrook active? Probably few enough to count on one hand. As such, last night was all about Gore. As in, imagine what he could have done against an Arizona defense that gave up over 200 rushing yards to the rest of the 49er running backs, and 50 yards to Gore himself after only five carries! Of course, owners facing Gore aren’t complaining. Gore’s owners, however, will eagerly await tomorrow’s injury evaluation. And it certainly doesn’t help that he’s on a short week heading into next Sunday.

Cardinal Disaster

Things were already pretty bad in Arizona, but last night may have been the straw that broke the camel’s back for Cardinal players and fans. Arizona’s defensive players were visibly frustrated last night, as the offense failed to score a touchdown and rushed for only 13 yards on 10 carries. Beanie Wells put up another stinker, carrying 5 times for the aforementioned 13 yards, while Tim Hightower netted 0 yards on five carries. Wells did catch a 43 yard go-route in the first quarter, but that was it. Hightower didn’t even catch a pass, giving him a grand total of 0 yards from scrimmage. When all was said and done, it was another awful night for both Cardinal running backs.

Derek Anderson continued to look pretty bad, too. He completed only 16 of 35 yards last night for 196 yards, no touchdowns, and one interception; that’s a quarterback rating of 51.6. Early Doucet led all Arizona receivers with five catches for 60 yards, while Larry Fitzgerald caught only four passes for 37 yards, despite being targeted nine times.

Anderson just doesn’t seem to be getting any better, and the camera catching him laughing on the sideline in the fourth quarter indicates that maybe he doesn’t care. Last night he continued to stare down receivers, fumble handoffs to running backs, airmail his throws, and look downright shaky in any other facet of the position you can imagine. While Fitzgerald and Steve Breaston (2 catches for 22 yards last night) have put up some decent numbers at times this year (often in garbage time), they have been killed by the play of Anderson and part-time rookie starter Max Hall. Unfortunately, it looks like things are getting worse in Arizona before they’ll get better.

Quick Hits

If Gore is to miss any significant time, you may want to think twice before running out to grab Brian Westbrook at any cost. Instead, think about getting rookie running back Anthony Dixon. Why? Dixon, the darling of the NFL preseason (when he led all players in rushing yards), carried 14 times for 54 yards and a score last night, and, more importantly, was the guy on the field in short yardage and goal line situations. Also, don’t forget the injury factor with Westbrook. The 31 running back hasn’t exactly been a symbol of perfect health throughout his career, and there’s no guarantee he’s going to start becoming one now… Troy Smith did enough to win the football game last night, but he didn’t do enough to warrant my confidence in starting him or any 49ers receiver moving forward. Smith completed only 11 of 23 passes for 129 yards and a beautiful 38 yard touchdown to Michael Crabtree (who caught 2 passes for 43 yards and that touchdown last night). Unfortunately, that touchdown was about the only thing beautiful about Smith’s night, as he also threw an interception and missed several open receivers. Hurting the most by Smith’s inconsistent play is 49ers tight end Vernon Davis, who caught only 2 passes for 32 yards last night on 4 targets. Davis, like seemingly every other tight end who posted a career season last year, is hardly coming anywhere close to his 2009 totals in both yardage and touchdowns.

Did this column seem short? That’s what happens in ugly games like this. Don’t worry, next week will undoubtedly be better. 9-2 Jets at 9-2 Patriots. Is it Monday yet?