Cardinals vs. 49ers: Postgame Grades and Notes for Arizona

It wasn't the way anyone would have drawn it up, but the Arizona Cardinals managed to find a way past the San Francisco 49ers with a 19-13 win in Santa Clara, California, on Sunday afternoon.

The game featured it all: attrition, bizarre officiating sequences and, of course, a missed extra point late in the fourth quarter.

Neither team made a claim to the game in the first half, with Arizona holding the edge on the scoreboard with a 6-3 lead. The Cardinals appeared to create some separation with an ugly touchdown drive to begin the second half, but the 49ers battled back to tie the game heading into the fourth quarter.

Carson Palmer at last managed to get the Cardinals back in front with a disjointed, 14-play, eight-minute touchdown drive. Arizona's defense held Blaine Gabbert and the 49ers offense to seal the game.

The win pushed Arizona's record to 9-2 on the season and maintained their three-game lead over Seattle in the NFC West. Still, the team's brutal performance will be cause for significant introspection before the Cardinals head to St. Louis for their Week 13 matchup.

Click ahead for the full recap, including position grades, an injury roundup and the greater existential questions of Arizona football.

Position Grades for Arizona

Tony Avelar/Associated Press

Quarterback: C

Carson Palmer's line of 24-of-40 passing for 271 yards and no touchdowns or interceptions is almost the definition of average. He wasn't accurate, but he didn't kill his team with awful passes.

Palmer, in a lot of ways, was caught in a catch-22 kind of loop throughout the game. He received no help from his teammates, but he also needed to give his offense a boost, even if only through leadership. 

Running Backs: D+

It's true this is a harsh grade considering the woes of the offensive line, but how much faith do you have in this group at this point in the season? Chris Johnson is banged-up and looking like he's 30 years old, while Andre Ellington is again injured.

All four running backs touched the ball on Sunday, but none of them made a memorable play. The best run of the day came from Palmer.

Wide Receivers: C+

Until we see the coaches' film, we won't really know how the Cardinals wide receivers played against San Francisco. John Brown had five catches for 99 yards, while Larry Fitzgerald had 10 receptions for 66 yards, but no one truly stood out.

Whether that was because they couldn't get open or because Palmer spent half the game running for his life is a question we can't answer in the immediate aftermath of the game.

Offensive Line and Tight Ends: F

Against the 49ers' struggling front seven, Arizona's blockers paved the way for only 2.4 yards per carry on Sunday, and that might constitute the better half of their performance. 

San Francisco tallied only one sack but hit Palmer nine times and had him on the run on countless other plays. One week after getting crushed by Seattle, the 49ers front seven dominated the Cardinals offensive line.

Jermaine Gresham and company are getting lumped into this group as they don't have a real role as receivers in the passing game. They were part of the problem on Sunday.

Defensive Line: C+

It wasn't the greatest performance in the world, but the depleted Cardinals defensive line did enough to help their defense. They didn't create pressure on their own, but they helped contain San Francisco's limited rushing attack and occupied enough attention to create room for blitzers.

Rodney Gunter and Josh Mauro failed to make their presence felt, but newly-signed Red Bryant showed a pulse. The team needs Frostee Rucker back on the field as soon as possible.

Linebackers: B-

A re-watch may make a liar out of me, but I thought this group played reasonably well. Kevin Minter and Deone Bucannon popped up to make a couple of key stops, and Minter and rookie Markus Golden teamed up for Arizona's first sack of the day.

Still, there were some coverage issues underneath that may ultimately drop this grade down to a C.

Secondary: B-

Maybe they set the bar too high for themselves, but we've come to expect more from Arizona's secondary, haven't we? With the exception of Tyrann Mathieu's interception and Tony Jefferson's sack, this unit just didn't make any game-turning plays.

Still, they largely did their jobs and didn't do anything stupid. James Bettcher will have to sort out whatever coverage issues permitted San Francisco's tight ends to accumulate 138 yards on nine receptions.

Special Teams: C

The punt coverage unit was stout, but outside of that, the only notable moment for Arizona's special teams came when Chandler Catanzaro missed an extra point in the fourth quarter. That miss could have easily cost Arizona the game.

Catanzaro will likely be the kicker for the remainder of the season, but with three extra points now missed on the season, how much faith do you have in him heading into the playoffs? 

Coaching: D+

It's Week 12, and the entire team came out flat, despite the fact it's in prime position to earn a first-round bye in the playoffs. Not only that, San Francisco had the more successful game plan on both sides of the ball. Both of those things are quite obviously on the coaching staff.

On the flip side, there's only so much Bruce Arians and his staff can do with a depleted roster. The unwillingness to even contemplate a backup plan is puzzling, but nothing will change on that front.

Arizona's Injury List Grows

Tony Avelar/Associated Press

Arizona entered Sunday's game with 10 starters listed on the injury report, and two more key contributors were forced out of action early.

Chris Johnson left in the third quarter after reaggravating a knee injury that hindered him in practice throughout the week. His backup, Andre Ellington, would leave the game soon after with a foot injury. Rookie David Johnson took over in the fourth quarter.

Starting corner Jerraud Powers also left the game in the third quarter after suffering a leg injury. Justin Bethel took Powers' place opposite Patrick Peterson.

According to Darren Urban of the team's official website, Arians had no significant updates on any of the injuries following the game. Considering all three were unable to return to a close game, it's not unreasonable to speculate they'll all be questionable at best for Week 13. 

If that's the case, David Johnson will have to be ready to play like a veteran against St. Louis next Sunday. He'll have a big role in protecting Palmer, a tough job for any running back, let alone a rookie.

Powers has been the weak link in Arizona's secondary, but he's still a starting corner. Bethel will get the first crack at the job, although Mathieu will likely see more time as a pure corner than a roaming defender in Arizona's secondary.

The hits just keep on coming. 

Red-Zone Woes Continue for Arizona

Tony Avelar/Associated Press

Perhaps no sequence better summed up Sunday's game than the events that led to Arizona's first touchdown.

Coming out of the second half, the Cardinals offense took five plays to get the ball down to San Francisco's 3-yard line. From the 3-yard line, it took Arizona nine snaps to get into the end zone.

How, exactly, does that happen?

Arizona's inability to score from that particular position got things rolling, while San Francisco and the officiating crew chipped in with a display of generosity that can only mean it's the holiday season.

Here's the full sequence:

• Snap 1 - Defensive pass interference (Jimmie Ward on Larry Fitzgerald)
• Snap 2 - Chris Johnson run for minus-3 yards
• Snap 3 - Illegal use of the hands penalty on San Francisco (Pass incomplete to John Brown)
• Snap 4 - Chris Johnson run for minus-1 yard
• Snap 5 - Pass incomplete to Andre Ellington
• Snap 6 - Defensive pass interference (Gerald Hodges on Larry Fitzgerald)
• Snap 7 - Defensive pass interference (Michael Wilhoite on Jermaine Gresham)
• Snap 8 - David Johnson run for no gain
• Snap 9 - David Johnson run for one-yard touchdown

Exhausting.

Yes, San Francisco contributed to Arizona's inability to score with four penalties, but the Cardinals also took five undisrupted snaps to gain positive yardage and find the end zone. That's simply not good enough.

Arizona's two trips into the red zone during the first half ended in field goals, while Palmer rescued the offense's fourth-quarter excursion by running it in himself from seven yards out.

Arizona badly needs a fallback plan when it starts spinning its tires in the red zone. It has a plethora of options; it just needs the right plan.

The Ineffable State of the Cardinals Following Their Victory

Marcio Jose Sanchez/Associated Press

This isn't an attempt to be cute or clever or any other innocuous adjective that begins with the letter "C". This is something Arians and the Cardinals coaching staff will have to sort out over the course of the week.

Here are the two ways to look at Sunday's game:

1. Arizona did almost nothing well, but it still found a way to win

Outside of the Patriots, all NFL teams have weeks where they just don't have it. They all strive for perfection, even though they know it's unattainable.

Instead, coaches strive to limit the poor performances, and, if they have strong teams, find ways to win games they should lose. That's something Arizona managed to do on Sunday.

San Francisco matched them on all fronts and played with more energy and enthusiasm. Discount the 13 penalties and it was probably the better team. 

Through it all, the Cardinals came away with a victory, their first in San Francisco since 2008. They maintained their playoff position and proved their resiliency for the third consecutive week. Those are big, great things, and Sunday's game is nothing more than a wake-up call.

2. Arizona did almost nothing well

Take away the happy ending and you're left with what can only be described as a regrettable performance. 

Despite holding the talent advantage, Arizona failed to meet San Francisco's effort level, and at times it was pushed all over the show by the 49ers. That doesn't happen to teams that expect to make it to the Super Bowl.

San Francisco made it plainly obvious that Arizona has gaping holes in its team right now. The Cardinals offensive line isn't getting the job done, the running game has disappeared and injuries have ravaged the defensive line and wide receiver group. 

This was the easiest game of the second half of Arizona's season, and though it won, it got pushed around a fair bit. 

More often than not, the truth lies somewhere in the middle. Bruce Arians and his staff have a big puzzle to solve before next Sunday's game in St. Louis.