Lost amid Frank Gore’s broken hip and Derek Anderson’s breakdown was the fact that the 49ers did some things they hadn’t done for a long time in their 27-6 win against Arizona on Monday night.
I know. Perhaps some of the feats below should come with an asterisk given the state of the Cardinals, who resembled the 45-Man Glendale Sleep Deprivation Experiment.
But as Takeo Spikes said, “S—, it ain’t our fault they’re not playing well.”
• The Niners allowed 13 yards rushing, marking the fourth time in
franchise history that the defense had held an opponent to 13 rushing
yards or fewer. It marked the fewest rushing yards allowed since they
limited the Rams to nine yards on Nov. 2, 2003.
• The defense allowed eight first downs, the fourth time the Niners had
allowed eight first downs or fewer since 2000. The Cardinals didn’t have
a rushing first down. It was the second time this season a team hasn’t
managed a first down rushing and both occurred within a span of 24
hours. The Colts didn’t have a first down on the ground in their loss to
the Chargers on Sunday night.
• The 49ers had 261 rushing yards on 47 carries. It was their most
rushing yards since Nov. 19, 2006 (262 vs. Seattle) and their most
carries since Jan. 1, 2006 (47 vs. Houston).
• The 49ers had three players collect at least 50 rushing yards for the
first time since Dec. 14, 1998 vs. Detroit when the ground game was led
by Garrison Hearst (24-198), Steve Young (10-66) and Terry Kirby (7-60).
On Monday night, Brian Westbrook (23-136), Anthony Dixon (14-54) and
Gore (5-52) did the honors.
• San Francisco had 26 first downs, its most since Oct. 10, 2004 (28 vs. Arizona).
• The Niners scored 21 first-half points, their most since Nov. 16, 2008 (35 vs. St. Louis).
• The 49ers had the ball for 39:01, their highest time of possession since Dec. 7, 2008 (39:49 vs. Jets).
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