Cards rally to drop 49ers
GLENDALE, Ariz. — The Arizona Cardinals will have a tough time missing the playoffs now.
The team that's been pro football's biggest loser for decades escaped with a 29-24 victory over San Francisco on Monday night to open a four-game lead in the NFC West with seven to play.
"We had to scrap and fight for everything that we got," Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt said. "I'm extremely excited that we came out with a win and we broke that Monday night curse."
It was Arizona's first Monday night win in six tries since the franchise moved to the desert 20 years ago.
At the finish, just a couple of yards were the difference.
The Cardinals (6-3) stopped Michael Robinson up the middle from the 2-yard line as the game ended to preserve their sixth consecutive home victory and fourth this year.
"It would have been nice to have a blowout but, hey, those games are sweet when you win," Arizona quarterback Kurt Warner said. "Man, it's fun. It's fun to pull these out. It would have been a heartbreaker to have lost it."
The 49ers (2-7) lost their sixth in a row and second since Mike Singletary took over as interim coach from the fired Mike Nolan.
"That was definitely one of the most frustrating losses I can remember in my 15 or 16 years playing football," 49ers center Eric Heitmann said.
The Arizona players were just as stunned as every 49ers fan that Frank Gore didn't get the ball for that last carry.
"I told Frank after the game, he's their best player," Arizona defensive back Adrian Wilson said. "In that situation, you've got to demand the ball. To have him as a wideout, to me, that's not their best play."
Singletary said the play was called by offensive coordinator Mike Martz.
"I think Coach Martz felt that there would be a cavity inside, so he made the call," Singletary said. "So you've got to live with the result."
Who made the game-saving tackle?
"We all did," defensive tackle Darnell Dockett said.
Singletary said his team could have "done a heck of a lot better job" managing the final seconds. With the ball on the 1-yard line, Gore headed toward the winning touchdown around left end, only to stumble and fall outside the 2-yard line. After a review, officials said Gore was down by contact — when he was pushed slightly by Chike Okeafor. That set up San Francisco's frantic last play.
Warner finished 32-of-42 for 328 yards and three touchdowns without an interception.
The Cardinals never led until Karlos Dansby's 34-yard interception return set up Warner's 5-yard TD pass to Anquan Boldin with 4:16 to play.
