Arizona Cardinals: 7 Keys to 21-19 Win vs. San Francisco 49ers

The Arizona Cardinals improved on their impressive win over the Dallas Cowboys from Week 13 when they continued to display defensive dominance over the San Francisco 49ers in Sunday's tough fought NFC West matchup. 

While the Cardinal defense has secured itself as a legitimate group, Arizona's offense also showed signs of new life against the Niners. With solid performances on both sides of the ball, the Cards showed that they are coming together as a team and will be a force to be reckoned with for the remainder of this year and into the 2012 season.

Click below as I lay out the keys for the Cardinals success against the 49ers. 

Cardinals Don't Need a Running Game to Win

It's not clear if the San Francisco 49ers shut down Cardinals running back Beanie Wells. It's not clear, because Wells never got a chance to get into a rhythm against the Niners. 

At halftime, Wells had touched the rock only four times—hardly giving him a chance to do anything of significance on the ground. Wells ended up with a total of 15 rushing attempts, gaining a measly 27 yards.

His 1.8 yards per attempt was horrible, but it also showed that the Cardinals can put points on the board without Wells' services.

Early on in the year, it appeared that, in order for Arizona to win games, they would have to turn to the Ohio State running back. Seeing the Cardinals turn to an air attack and pull out a close win shows that the offense is not mandated to run through Wells' legs.

While it was a disheartening rushing effort on the Cardinals' part, it was a demonstration that Arizona can be multi-dimensional in getting in the end zone. Opposing teams will now have to game plan against the run and the pass, which could open up room for both facets of the Cards' game.

John Skelton Gives Cardinals Options at Quarterback

Similar to the Cardinals showing that they don't need running back Beanie Wells to win a game, they also showed that they can rely on their backup quarterback John Skelton to pull out a close victory.

After starting quarterback Kevin Kolb took an accidental knee to the head by Niners linebacker Ahmad Brooks in the first quarter, Skelton took the reins of the offense. Upon leaving the game, Kolb had thrown and completed only one pass for two yards. 

Enter Skelton against the 49ers.

Skelton's last showing against the Niners was dismal, to say the least. In Week 11, Skelton almost completed as many passes to the 49ers defense as he did to his own team. In that game, he went 6-of-19 with zero touchdowns and three picks. It's understandable that the crowd showed signs of disappointment when they saw Skelton trot on the field again against the Niners.

This time around, however, Skelton put on a solid performance and led the Cards to a close victory over a team that is being pushed into the playoffs by their defensive efforts. Skelton completed 19 of his 28 passes and threw three magnificent touchdown passes to three different receivers.

Sunday's effort by Skelton was yet another key to the Cardinals organization being able to suffer a significant setback with their starting quarterback, turn to their backup and still win a tight matchup.

Early Doucet Provides Spark to Receiver Corps

When these two teams met in Week 11, wide receiver Early Doucet threw punches against safety Dashon Goldson. His punches made no impact on Goldson's helmet or the 49ers.

In Week 14, Doucet caught three pass for 73 yards, including a 60-yard touchdown. The use of his hands on those catches made a lasting impression on San Francisco's defense and, hopefully, the Cardinals coaching staff.

All season, Doucet has been behind fellow wideout Andre Roberts on the depth chart. Despite being tucked away from the starting lineup, Doucet has outplayed his colleague consistently this year.

It's time for Doucet to stop playing second fiddle to Roberts and move up the depth chart for the Cardinals. He was key to Arizona's success against the 49ers in Week 14 and will continue to be instrumental to the organization in years to come.

Red Zone Defense Made the Difference

The San Francisco 49ers had three red-zone attempts against the Cardinals that resulted in field goals instead of touchdowns.

At the end of the first quarter, Ted Ginn Jr. returned a punt 52 yards to Arizona's 4-yard line. Two pass attempts by quarterback Alex Smith and a Frank Gore run that went for a negative yard, and the Niners were kicking a field goal from the 5-yard line. 

With four minutes remaining in the first half, Smith connected with tight end Vernon Davis for a 32-yard strike that put the Niners at Arizona's 13-yard line. Three plays later, San Francisco was forced to kick a field goal from the 9-yard line. 

On the next offensive series for the Cardinals, Skelton threw a pick to Dashon Goldson that put the 49ers on the Cardinals' 16-yard line. Smith completed 2-of-5 passing attempts in the red zone, and San Francisco settled for third field goal from Arizona's 4-yard line.

Those three red-zone stops were key for an Arizona victory. Instead of converting those red zone attempts into three touchdowns, the Niners came away with only nine points rather than 21. The Cardinals' games this year have almost all been close victories or losses. It was key for Arizona to minimize the 49ers' point production in the red zone to pull out another close victory.

Moving Larry Fitzgerald Moves the Chains

Following the Week 14 matchup against the 49ers, wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald gave his offensive coaches credit for his monster game.

Typically, Fitzgerald lines up on the outside of the offensive formations. Against the Niners, the coaches had Fitz line up in the slot more than usual. "When you move me inside it makes it a little difficult to identify where I'm going to be and I can see where the doubles are going to come from," Fitzgerald said.

Fitzgerald ended up with seven catches for 149 yards and a touchdown. His touchdown came after making an acrobatic catch from a throw that was a bit off target by John Skelton. After spinning 180 degrees in the air, Fitzgerald landed and sprinted 22 yards for a touchdown, his seventh on the year.

After Kevin Kolb left the game in the first quarter, Fitzgerald acted as Skelton's security blanket. It was key for the offensive coaches to get creative with where Fitz lined up and to give Skelton an opportunity to success, which he did.

Ray Horton Disrupts 49ers Offense

Defensive coordinator Ray Horton was held back at the beginning of the season as far as his playbook was concerned. He just wasn't able to call the type of plays that he needed to in order to stop opposing offenses. 

“If you go back to the Seattle game Week 3, there was nothing on our list to call.” Horton said. How frustrating that must have been for Horton.

Horton is frustrated no longer.

“I have now supreme confidence to call anything on my list,” Horton said.

Whatever plays Horton called against the 49ers were instrumental in their success. If only the defense had those types of plays from the beginning of the season. “We are probably right now where I wish we would have been Week 2,” Horton said.

Nevertheless, Horton and his cronies are ecstatic to be working so well together, even if it is late in the season. “It’s fun, because these guys want to be good and they want to come after people.” remarked Horton.

Without question, the Cardinals came after Smith.

At halftime, the Cardinals notched four sacks on Alex Smith. In the second half, the Niners were only able to convert two first downs. Horton essentially shut down the 49ers offense and was key to securing a much needed win.  

Taking Possession of the Second Half

At halftime, there was a huge discrepancy between  time of possession for the Cardinals and for the 49ers. The 49ers had the ball for over 22:39 as compared to 7:21 for the Cardinals. Arizona barely had enough time to get a first down. In fact, the Cardinals only converted two first downs in the first half. 

Things changed in the second half—the teams did a role reversal.

San Francisco had only two first downs in the entire second half, while the Cardinals converted 10 first downs in the second half and evened out the time of possession between the two teams (30:59 49ers, 29:04 Cardinals).

The Cardinals were able to keep the 49ers off of the field and away from the end zone almost the entire second half. The defensive unit held 49ers quarterback Alex Smith to 4.9 yards per attempt in the second half and stymied the San Francisco offense.

Taking control of the clock allowed the Cardinals to take control of the game and permitted them to etch out a close victory.