Nearly perfect night for 49ers
Smith 18 of 19 in rout of Cardinals
GLENDALE, Ariz. – On an almost perfect Monday night for Alex Smith, the San Francisco 49ers flexed their NFC West dominance, flattening the Arizona Cardinals 24-3.
Smith completed 18 of 19 passes for 232 yards and three touchdowns – two to Michael Crabtree and one to Randy Moss – to help San Francisco (6-2) open a two-game lead in the division and send Arizona (4-4) to its fourth straight loss.
Smith’s only incompletion was dropped by a wide-open receiver in the first half.
Smith was 14 of 15 for 146 yards and two touchdowns, both to Crabtree, as the 49ers built a 17-0 halftime lead.
Moss caught a 47-yard TD pass, dodging tacklers down the sideline on a play that seemed to turn back the clock to the receiver’s prime. With the catch, he tied Terrell Owens for fourth on the NFL career touchdown list with 156.
Smith, who tied a career high with the three touchdown passes, spread out his completions to 10 receivers. Crabtree led the way with five catches for 72 yards.
Arizona’s defense, supposed to be the team’s strength, missed tackle after tackle in an embarrassing nationally televised performance at home. The 24 points were the most allowed by the Cardinals this season.
Led by Smith’s near-perfect precision passing, the 49ers methodically dominated from the start. The San Francisco quarterback had the best completion percentage of his career, and he would have been perfect had Delanie Walker not dropped the ball when he was wide open on a crossing route.
A 10-play, 77-yard drive that consumed just over 6 minutes of the first quarter put San Francisco up 7-0. On third-and-goal from the 3, Smith threw a sidelines pass to Crabtree, who outfought Patrick Peterson for the ball and the TD.
A flurry of missed tackles, most notably an open-field whiff by Sam Acho, helped Ted Ginn Jr. return a punt 35 yards to the Arizona 45 in the second quarter. Daryl Washington sacked Smith to help set up a third-and-23 from the Cardinals 46. But Smith found Crabtree over the middle for 22 yards, just a yard shy of the first down. David Akers’ 43-yard field goal made it 10-0.
Crabtree beat Peterson again for San Francisco’s second touchdown. Smith threw over the middle to the receiver, who caught the ball, then fooled Peterson with an inside move into the end zone to make it 17-0 with 1:41 left in the half. The 49ers drove 68 yards in eight plays, again overcoming a sack, this one by Calais Campbell, that made it second-and-goal from the 16. Smith threw 7 yards to Mario Manningham to set up the TD toss to Crabtree.
The Cardinals were booed off the field by the home crowd at the half.
St. Louis averted a shutout with Jay Feely’s 28-yard field goal