Carson Palmer's TD run lifts Cardinals past 49ers 19-13

SANTA CLARA - The Arizona Cardinals left a window open.

The team that entered Sunday’s game at Levi’s Stadium with an 8-2 record and the NFC West lead, the one people had begun to describe as a Super Bowl favorite, missed an extra point with 2:28 left, giving the 49ers visions of an upset. The fact that the Niners had been penalized 13 times for 81 yards, and that some of the infractions were highly questionable, only led to their resolve.

“That whole drive was, emotionally, just a whirlwind,” San Francisco tight end Vance McDonald said. “It’s frustrating. Can’t control the part of the game with the refs. But yeah, when they missed the extra point, it’s just like, the justice. The justice of the situation right now is great.”

But justice doesn’t serve the 49ers this season. Their comeback drive ended 22 yards short of the Arizona end zone and 2 yards short of the first-down marker, where wide receiver Anquan Boldin was pulled to the ground on a fourth-and-20 play with 1:12 remaining.

The Cardinals won 19-13, preserving their hopes of returning to this stadium for Super Bowl 50 in early February. The Niners fell to 3-8, ensuring a non-winning record in 2015.

“It was close,” San Francisco quarterback Blaine Gabbert said of that final completion to Boldin. “I knew when he made the break they were in single high (coverage) and he had a good matchup inside. Came up three feet short. It’s just the way it goes sometimes.”

It was more like six feet, but Gabbert’s point is well taken. The struggling 49ers went nose to nose with one of the NFL’s elite teams and took the game to the wire.

The Niners had much to draw encouragement from. They stuffed the Arizona running game, holding the visitors to 70 yards on 29 attempts, and they kept Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer just off-balance enough to limit his big plays. San Francisco also got another solid game from Gabbert, who has been a big improvement over former starter Colin Kaepernick since replacing him during the Atlanta game on Nov. 8.

None of it was enough to secure the victory, a measure of where this team stands. The Cardinals jumped to a 10-point lead in the third quarter and never trailed, even on a day when they didn’t come close to playing their best football.

Of course, the 49ers believed the officiating had much to do with their poor result.

“Felt like we were playing two teams today,” Boldin said. “… I thought it was ridiculous all day. I mean, if you’re gonna call the game that way, call it both ways. Don’t let it just be so lopsided that it’s blatant.”

Even Arizona head coach Bruce Arians found no kind words referee Pete Morelli’s crew, which seemed confused at several points of the game.

“The officials were struggling mightily,” Arians said. “I mean, they can’t count to three.”

The most crucial call of the day came with about 7 minutes left in the game and the score tied 13-13. Palmer dropped back to pass on second down and 49ers defensive tackle Quinton Dial barreled up the middle to sack him. It would have been third-and-18, except there was a yellow flag lying next to Palmer.

Dial’s thoughts: “No. This can’t be. This can’t be real. No.”

It was real. He had been slapped with a penalty for roughing the passing, presumably for hitting Palmer in the head area.

“There’s no debate here,” Palmer said afterward. “He hit me right in the face with the crown of his helmet. I don’t think there’s any debate over that.”

Palmer might have checked with the home locker room, where many of the 49ers were convinced Dial hit the quarterback in the chest.

“When I watched the replay, I saw that he just kind of ducked into it and there was obviously nothing I could do at that point, just fall into him,” Dial said.

Six plays later, Palmer threw off his back foot and hit wide receiver J.J. Nelson for a 34-yard gain over nickel back Jimmie Ward to the San Francisco 1. Following a short loss and a false start, Palmer watched the coverage follow his receivers to the right side of the field before taking off for the left flag and lumbering in for an 8-yard touchdown.

That’s when Chandler Catanzaro missed the extra point, but it turned out not to matter.

The 49ers defense spent most of the first half on its heels. Return man Bruce Ellington dropped a punt at his own 38 midway through the first quarter, and Gabbert threw an interception to Tyrann Mathieu later in the quarter, setting up a pair of Arizona field goals.

The Cardinals pushed their lead to 13-3 in the third quarter, another score that was buoyed by penalties. After picking up a first-and-goal at the San Francisco 3, it took Arizona nine snaps to punch in the ball on a short run by David Johnson. Only five of those plays counted, though, because the Niners were whistled for pass interference three times and illegal use of the hands once.

Rather than being deflated by Johnson’s touchdown, the 49ers bounced back on a crisp scoring drive of their own, Gabbert’s 48-yard pass to one tight end (Blake Bell) setting up his 8-yard touchdown throw to another (Vance McDonald).

Gabbert’s 41-yard strike to Torrey Smith set up Phil Dawson’s second field goal near the end of the third quarter, forging a 13-13 tie heading into the fourth.

The 49ers made the game exciting. Ultimately, they couldn’t pull it out.

“I believe there is progress,” San Francisco head coach Jim Tomsula said. “But we’re in the business of winning games.”

Right now, anyway, the 49ers are a failing business.

You can reach Staff Writer Phil Barber at 521-5263 or phil.barber@pressdemocrat.com.