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Looking to atone for last week's disastrous loss to Seattle, the San Francisco 49ers closed out their 2012 regular season on a high note on Sunday afternoon with a 27-13 win over Arizona.
Quarterback Colin Kaepernick continued his strong play with another impressive performance, chipping in 276 yards through the air with a pair of touchdowns to wide receiver Michael Crabtree. Despite being held to just 20 yards on 68 carries, San Francisco tailback Frank Gore still found the end zone from two yards out to record his eighth rushing touchdown of the season.
Along with wrapping up their second consecutive NFC West championship, the 49ers also put their best foot forward in an effort to earn one of the conference's two first-round byes. Depending on the outcome of Chicago's late afternoon rivalry game with Green Bay, San Francisco will soon land either the No. 2 or No. 3 seed in the NFC and should benefit from kicking off the postseason at Candlestick Park.
Fantasy studs and duds
While Kaepernick epitomized consistency, San Francisco receiver Michael Crabtree was still arguably the biggest playmaker of the game for the 49ers. Crabtree hauled down a season-high eight receptions for a career-high 172 yards in the victory, and also found time to record his third multi-touchdown effort of the season.
Even though his quarterback play was often erratic, Arizona wideout Michael Floyd still chipped in 166 receiving yards on eight catches to lead a stagnant offensive attack. Floyd's performance gives him a total of 45 receptions and 560 receiving yards this season as a rookie, and the talented receiver looks to be a player to watch heading into 2013.
Injury report
Arizona star cornerback Patrick Peterson injured his hamstring in the third quarter and did not return. Peterson struggled to contain Crabtree 1-on-1 for much of the day, and was a minimal factor on special teams with just 12 punt return yards on two attempts.
Did they cover?
The 49ers entered the day as 7-point favorites according to Oddsshark.com, and never once looked to be in trouble despite opening the game with a handful of stalled drives.