It wasn’t pretty but, then again, you didn’t expect to be.
Thankfully, Brian Westbrook decided to have his first big game in a 49ers uniform, rushing for 136 yards and a touchdown to lead San Francisco to a 27-6 win over Arizona on Monday night.
Thrust into a featured role when Frank Gore went down with a hip injury, Westbrook touched the ball 23 times as the 49ers (4-7) took control early to claim their fourth win in six games. It was the 21st 100+ yard game in Westbrook’s career but the first since 2008.
Troy Smith threw for 129 yards and connected with Michael Crabtree for a 38- yard touchdown pass in the first quarter that gave San Francisco the lead for good.
Arizona (3-8) only managed two field goals from Jay Feely in its sixth straight loss. The Cardinals gained a measly 13 yards rushing the entire game.
San Fran blog Niners Nation loves what they saw out of the Niners’ offensive line:
Our offensive line has the ability to play at a high level. Looking at the Cardinals pass rush, it has been decent this season. Watching them tonight, they didn’t look too bad, their technique was good, but they were consistently beaten by our guys. Considering the absolute spanking they were given to Tampa Bay, who don’t have much of a pass rush, I’ll take this as a good sign for our line.
Meanwhile, Arizona blog Revenge of the Birds is resigned to the fact that the Cardinals are awful again:
The Cardinals are now 3-8, and their season is essentially over now. It is basically time to just hope that they get a high enough draft pick to get Andrew Luck or another Quarterback that isn’t completely awful. They are also in last place in the NFC West, which is led by the 5-6 Rams and Seahawks. Truly an awful division.