The San Francisco won the game yesterday with defense plain and simple.  The Niners forced 6 turnovers in the game as Patrick Willis, Dre Bly and Dashon Goldson picked off passes while Mark Roman, Takeo Spikes and Dre Bly all recovered fumbles yesterday.  Patrick Willis led the way for the Niners on D as usual with 9 tackles, 1 pass defensed, 1 QB hit and a INT.  The Lions finished up with only 289 total yards on offense (114 rushing, 175 passing) yesterday.

Alex Smith did a solid job of managing the game on offense completing 20 of 31 passes for 230 yards with 1 TD pass and 0 INTs.  Frank Gore had to fight for every yard he got on the ground with 71 yards rushing on 28 carries (2.5 ypc) with a TD grab but he also caught 4 passes for 81 yards (20.3 avg).  Michael Crabtree (4 rec, 68 yards) and Vernon Davis (3 rec, 18 yards, TD) pitched in for the offense.  The 49ers finished up with 310 total yards on offense (84 rushing, 226 passing) in this game.  The 49ers are now 7-8 on the year.

The 49ers have signed 24-year old kicker Ricky Schmitt out of tiny Shepherd College and he might have to start this weekend against the Lions if Joe Nedney is not ready to play due to a groin injury.  Nedney has played in all 14 games for the Niners this season and he has made 17 of 21 field goals (81%) and all 33 of his extra points good for 84 points this season.  It will be interesting to see how Schmitt handles his first NFL game if he has to play because the Niners can’t afford to leave points on the football field.

UPDATE:  Nedney is out for the season so Schmitt will continue to kick.  He was 2 for 3 on field goals in his NFL debut last week and he also made both of his extra points as he finished up with 8 points.

It is going to be cold and nasty in Philly tomorrow as the game has already been moved back to a 4 o’clock start because of the weather.  This game sets up for the team that can run the ball better and that should be the Niners.  The Niners will likely feed the ball to Frank Gore early in the game and see how it goes against a Eagles’ D that is only allowing 101.5 yards rushing per game and 3.8 yards per carry.  The biggest advantage the 49ers will likely have in this game is TE Vernon Davis against the Eagles’ safeties.  Still, the Niners will have to give Alex Smith time to throw the ball against a Eagles’ D that blitzes early and often as they have 36 sacks already this year.  The Eagles allow 218.6 yards passing per game this season but they also have picked off 20 passes so Alex Smith better be careful with the football tomorrow. 

The cold weather could help the Niners short circuit the deep passing game of the Eagles which is their strength on offense.  49ers’ inside linebacker Patrick Willis will likely try to smack Lesean McCoy around as he is probably the hardest hitting LB in the NFL.  McCoy and TE Brent Celek might be the players targeted in the passing game the most by Donovan McNabb with the weather likely to be nasty.  Still, the Niners can’t cheat up too much or McNabb will still take some shots over the top to WR Desean Jackson.

PREDICTION:  EAGLES 24, 49ERS 21

26-year old Frank Gore was supposed to be the focal point of the Niners’ offense this season.  But, when the 49ers switched QBs going with Alex Smith over Shaun Hill they also turned into a pass first offense.  Gore has played in 11 games for the Niners this season and he has carried the ball 162 times for 835 yards (5.2 ypc) with 7 TD runs.  He also has caught 43 passes for 281 yards (6.5 avg) with 3 TD grabs this season.  The Niners should really get back to running the ball more because Frank Gore is one of the best players on the team and he needs the ball in his hands more often.

25-year old TE Vernon Davis is having the monster season that the 49ers’ front office thought he was capable of when they drafted him four years ago.  Davis has played in 13 games for the 49ers this season and he has caught 66 passes for 815 yards (12.3 avg) with 11 TD grabs.  All of those numbers are already career highs for Davis.  In his first three seasons for the Niners, Davis played in 40 games in which he caught 103 passes for 1,132 yards (11.0 avg) with 9 TD grabs.  The 49ers are hoping that this is just a glimpse of the future production of Vernon Davis because they showed a lot of patience with him.

The San Francisco 49ers (6-7) easily took down the Arizona Cardinals (8-5) on Monday night, forcing seven turnovers.  The 49ers benefited a lot from the Cardinals’ terrible play.  Kurt Warner threw 2 interceptions and the Cardinals fumbled the ball seven times, losing five of them.  Patrick Willis lead the defense, getting 9 tackles (4 for a loss), a sack, and one forced fumble.  Ahmad Brooks also played great for the defense, getting 4 tackles, 3 sacks, and 2 forced fumbles.  It was a great game for the defense, but the Cardinals offense played awful.

On the offensive side of the ball Alex Smith did some very good things and some very bad things.  He finished the day 19/35 for 144 yards, 2 touchdowns, and 2 interceptions.  Frank Gore led the way though, running all over the Cardinals defense.  He rushed for 167 yards and a touchdown on 26 carries.  Michael Crabtree was the leading receiver with 5 catches for 67 yards and a touchdown.  This was a very good win for the Niners, in a game where almost everyone predicted the Cardinals to win after they manhandled a very strong Minnesota Vikings team.  They have another tough game next against the Philadelphia Eagles on the road.

The San Francisco 49ers (5-7) beat down on the Arizona Cardinals (8-4) in their first matchup this season, but it was the first game of the season and the Cardinals are a much different team now.  They just beat Brett Favre and the Minnesota Vikings convincingly, where their offense and defense played great.  The 49ers are going to need a big game out of Alex Smith if they want a chance, but with the way the Cardinals handled the future hall-of-famer Favre, it doesn’t seem likely that Smith will have a big day.  Smith is coming of one of his best games though, so if he can get some help from Frank Gore and the running game, they may be able to keep up with Warner and the Cardinals’ potent offense.

Warner and the Cardinals’ offense has been looking very good the past few weeks.  Warner has been having no problem finding his receivers, and he has been finding them for some big plays.  The 49ers cannot let Warner make any of those big plays, but it will be difficult with Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin both making great plays.  This matchup doesn’t look good for the 49ers, so I am going with the Cardinals in this one.

FINAL SCORE PREDICTION:  San Francisco 49ers 24, Arizona Cardinals 34

The 49ers have lost starting DE Kentwan Balmer for the year due to a torn right labrum.  Balmer played in 11 games last season for the Niners and he made 12 tackles.  He has now played in 27 games in his two years with the Niners and he has made 19 tackles and defensed 1 pass.  The 49ers have signed DE Baraka Atkins to replace Balmer on the roster.  Atkins played in 9 games for the Seahawks last season and he made 18 tackles, 2 tackles for a loss and he had 2 sacks.  He has now played two years in the NFL and he has 29 tackles, 1 pass defensed and 2 sacks. 

The 49ers probably should have won this game yesterday but they decided to give it away instead.  Alex Smith played well  completing 27 of 45 passes for 310 yards with 2 TD passes and 0 INTs.  Frank Gore only rushed for 25 yards on 9 carries (2.8 ypc) and he also caught 5 passes for 37 yards (7.4 avg).  Vernon Davis was very effective grabbing 6 passes for 111 yards (18.5 avg) with a TD grab.  Michael Crabtree added six grabs for 60 yards (10.0 avg) yesterday.  Josh Morgan pitched in with 6 catches for 56 yards (9.3 avg) with a TD grab and he also carried the ball 1 time for 20 yards.  The 49ers finished up with 356 total yards on offense (53 rushing, 303 passing) in this game.

The defense played well for most of this game before folding up the tent late to set up Olindo Mare of the Seahawks for his 30-yard field goal as time expired.  Linebacker Patrick Willis was a beast as usual yesterday with 16 tackles including 2 tackles for a loss.  Takeo Spikes pitched in with 9 tackles and a QB hit in this game.  The Seahawks finished up with 292 total yards in his game (107 rushing, 185 passing).  The 49ers fall to 5-7 losing a game that they had to have yesterday.