Niners still alive in NFC West

Last year, the Arizona Cardinals coasted after winning their first-ever NFC West crown.

And it showed.

A 21-point loss to the Vikings and a 40-point disaster in New England raised serious doubt regarding Arizona’s ability to thrive in the postseason — doubts that they would later erase with three playoff wins and a near-miss in the Super Bowl.

This year, they might have engaged cruise control prematurely.

An ugly, seven-turnover, 24-9 loss at San Francisco has given the eternally optimistic Mike Singletary a legitimate basis for hope that the Cardinals can be caught.

“I would just say, ‘Wow!’“
Singletary said after the game, per the Associated Press.  “That’s all that I could say.  They just kept coming up
with plays.  It’s great when you see that because our defense is a
defense that’s capable of being a great defense.”  (He then added, “Defense.”)

By completing the sweep of the Cardinals, the 49ers currently hold the tiebreaker.  So they don’t need to pass Arizona in the standings; they only need to pull even with them.

Pulling even means that the Niners need to win their next three (at Philly, Detroit, at St. Louis) and hope the Cardinals perform like they did last night at least twice against the Lions, Rams, and Packers.

And those common opponents — the Lions and Rams — will have a huge impact on this race.  To blow the division crown, the Cardinals would have to lose to one of two teams that lost on Sunday by a combined 95 points to opponents hovering near .500.

Then again, if the Cardinals continue to cough the ball up, they might not be able to beat anyone.

“Obviously it was ugly for us
tonight and we’re all disappointed and embarrassed with the outcome of
the game,” Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt said.  “We obviously played
bad tonight but I don’t think we’re a bad team.  We just had a bad
night.  Of course, you can’t turn the ball over seven times and expect
to win any game.”

Whisenhunt didn’t mention the sacks.  After shutting out the Vikings nine days ago, the Cardinals gave up four on Monday night.  Linebacker Ahmad Brooks had three of them.

That’s Ahmad Brooks, a third-round pick by the Bengals in the supplemental draft who was a bust in Cincy and who has found a home in San Fran.  (Usually, it happens the other way around for the Bengals.)

Regardless of the outcome to the 2009 season, the 49ers are laying a solid foundation for the future, and if the Cardinals hold them off this year, they might not be able to do it again in 2010.