The 49ers tend to bring out the worst in their opponents, including the Lions earlier this season...
The 49ers tend to bring out the worst in their opponents, including the Lions earlier this season and, most recently, the Cardinals, whose defensive coordinator derided an effective tight-end shift as "cute." The derision provided trash-talk material for at least one 49er. On a 4th-and-short play Sunday, left tackle Joe Staley said he heard the Cardinals warning each other: "Watch out for those shifts." Staley said he taunted them by cooing sarcastically: "Yea, watch for those cute things." When the teams got into their stance, he said, "I was still going: 'Here comes something cute.' Then we passed for the first down, and I was saying: 'Aw, that's so cute.'"

