It's not exactly a shocking statement to say that the 49ers defense has been atrocious.  They can't generate a pass rush, the secondary gets beaten deep rather badly at least once a game.  We can blame the quick exits of the offense as much as we want, but clearly the defense hasn't been performing up to par.

Monday night the 49ers defense squares off against one of the most explosive offenses in the league.  Aside from New Orleans, the Cardinals might be performing better than anybody in the league.  While their rushing game has been pretty weak, the passing game is 2nd in the league and they lead the league in points per game.  Needless to say, a defensive performance like we saw against Seattle could lead to a blowout of epic proportions.

First a quick note on the Cardinals rushing attack.  They've been pretty weak, whether you look at traditional counting stats, or DVOA.  However, we are seeing a changing of the guard as Tim Hightower is taking over the starting job.  Hightower put up 109 yards on 5.0 yards per carry last week against the Rams.  Of course the Cardinals took care of business in that game so that opened up more chances to run the ball.  In spite of the potential for Hightower to become a legit back in this league, the passing game is what the 49ers really need to worry about this Monday.

Kurt Warner has had great success against the 49ers in his career.  He has faced the 49ers more than any other team in his career (11 times) and currently has a 98.4 QB rating with 3013 yards, a 65.1% completion percentage, 20 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.  This season Warner has had quite the rejuvenation in replacing Matt Leinart.  He is on pace for over 4,800 yards and 32 touchdowns, both of which would be his highest totals since 2001.  Things are clearly looking good for Warner.

In the season opener Warner only threw for 197 yards, with a running game that averaged a mere 2.8 yards per carry.  The 49ers lost 4 fumbles and had 1 INT, which was enough to cap a 23-13 defeat.  As I recall, the 49ers got a pretty solid amount of pressure in the first half, before losing it in the second half.  The Cardinals circled the wagons and brought in more protection for Warner and the 49ers failed to adjust.  A great second half for Boldin sealed the deal as the 49ers couldn't make anything happen.

So now we look to Monday night.  What can the 49ers possibly do to contain an offense that has steadily improved this season and really seems to be clicking?  It's not so easy to throw out predictions now that we're coming off a bye week with a new coach.  While it's entirely possible the team comes out flat and the season is lost, I also think we could see big changes in performance on Monday.  The optimist in me hopes that Singletary and Manusky have figured out something.  Maybe the defense won't be the Monsters of the Midway or the Purple People Eaters.  However, I think we all are just looking for a respectable effort.  I realize the defense won't stop teams on every single 3rd down.  I'm just looking for stops in some of those critical, momentum-changing moments.

Even a win will likely leave open plenty of questions.  However, I also think a win will tell us a whole lot about this team and what Mike Singletary brings to the table as a head coach.  Yes, he gets two whole weeks to figure something out and he won't have that much time in future games.  But this game sets the tone for the rest of the season and the defense is where such a tone needs to be set.  We may not have a phenomenal defense, but I do think we can have an effective defense.  Monday night against the high flying Cardinals is as good a test as any.

Over the first two games, the 49ers seemed snake-bitten as crazy bounces were not going their way.  They righted that ship and are certainly showing signs of progress.  One area though where things have worked in their favor are opposing team injuries.  The Seahawks were absolutely decimated, which was one of the reasons the 49ers pulled out the road win.  Last week again Detroit, the Lions were missing offensive and defensive linemen and the 49ers were able to pounce.

The string of opposing team misfortune continues against the New Orleans Saints this week.  The timing on this comes as the Saints announced Jeremy Shockey would miss 3-6 weeks with a sports hernia.  That follows Marques Colston's continued absence after thumb surgery.  David Patten was sitting as their #1 receiver, but he left this past Sunday's game with a strained groin.  Also Sunday, the Saints lost left tackle Jammal Brown to a groin injury with no word on whether he'll play this coming weekend.

As you can see, the Saints are joining the list of teams suffering serious injury issues.  The 49ers are fortunate in that all their injured players this past Sunday are not expected to miss the Week 4 battle at New Orleans.  There is still no word on Shawntae Spencer, but it's appearing more and more likely that he's headed to the IR with a knee injury.  While not a devastating blow, it certainly doesn't help matters.

So, what do all the Saints injuries mean for Week 4?  Well, I'd imagine we'll see a nice fat serving of Reggie Bush.  In two career games versus San Francisco, Reggie Bush has accumulated 281 total yards and 4 touchdowns.  Not too shabby and plenty of reason to keep him extra active on Sunday. 

If Patten is also out that would leave Devery Henderson, Robert Meachem and Lance Moore as the starting trio of receivers.  Probably more formidable than Seattle's group the other week, but a group that can be contained.  So, do the 49ers run the nickel/dime package all game long?  Would it be wise to give up the rushing yards to Bush but prevent the receiving yards?  He always seems like more of a threat in the passing game, so an option could be to have a DB shadow him the entire game.  A guy like Dashon Goldson would be able to keep up with him, but I could certainly see Bush shaking him off as Goldson over-pursues.  So, another option is a veteran like Mark Roman spying him.  Thoughts on that?

Aside from Anquan Boldin's second half performance against the 49ers, I feel safe letting them handle the receivers, whomever they may be.  I'd imagine most coaches don't like overplaying their hand and game-planning a single player.  However, Reggie Bush, at least against the 49ers, has turned into that type of player.  If they can contain Bush, I have confidence they can contain the rest of the receivers.

As the injury reports are updated I'll pass that info along.

Since the beginning of the Mike Nolan era in 2005, the 49ers and Cardinals have had an interesting history.  The 49ers lost four straight to the Cardinals before winning both games in the series last season.  The 49ers currently stand at 19-14 against the Cardinals all-time.

If you wanted one word to describe the last six contests, close would be the safest choice.  The average difference in score was 7.67 points, and that's factoring in a 17 point Cardinals victory in the first of the six in 2005.  Since then, neither team has won by more than a touchdown.  Last season took the "closeness" to a whole new level with two wild finishes.  As I will consider the first game in 2005 a "statistical outlier," I'm just going to look at the last five.  I feel it creates just a bit more drama!

SAN FRANCISCO 37, @ ARIZONA 31 (Nov. 25, 2007)
The 49ers found themselves in the midst of an 8 game losing streak and the team looking absolutely abysmal.  The 49ers had put up no more than 16 points in any of their previous eight games and while Frank Gore was being productive, he couldn't carry the team by himself.  However, on this day, Gore put together 214 total yards and 2 touchdowns as Trent Dilfer had a bit of a throwback performance.  Of course, the game will be remembered for the wild ending and Patrick Willis putting himself on the national map.  After the 49ers took the lead late, the Cardinals drove down and a goal line stop (including a game-saving defensive effort by Donald Strickland) kept the Cardinals to a field goal. 

In overtime, Kurt Warner connected with Sean Morey for what appeared to be a game-winning touchdown.  However, Willis (in a play replayed over and over again) ran down Morey from behind to prevent the touchdown.  Arizona positioned the ball for a game-winning field goal, which Rackers drilled through the uprights.  Fortunately, a delay of game moved the ball back 5 yards and Rackers missed a 32 yarder.  After a later booming Andy Lee punt and an illegal block in the back, Arizona started with the ball on their own 3.  A Ronald Fields sack forced a Warner fumble, which Tully Banta-Cain pounced on for the heart-stopping victory.

at SAN FRANCISCO 20, ARIZONA 17 (Sept. 10, 2007)
Coming off a rather inspiring 2006, the 49ers were looking to start off the 2007 season with a bang.  The young guns, Alex Smith and Matt Leinart, combined to throw under 50% and do everything they could to single-handedly kill Monday night ratings.  The 49ers tandem of newly acquired Nate Clements and Pro Bowler Walt Harris looked sharp in holding Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin to a combined 7 catches for 43 yards.  Patrick Willis made his debut with an impressive 11 tackles, showing a sign of things to come.

However, the finish is what this game will be remembered for.  With 2:58 to go, Alex Smith led the 49ers on 86 yard drive with a 4th down conversion followed by a 3rd and long conversion.  The 3rd down conversion almost resulted in disaster as Arnaz Battle fumbled the ball on the 1 into the end zone.  The ball was recovered in the end zone, but since the offense can't advance a fumble, the ball was spotted at the 1.  Arnaz Battle redeemed himself with an end around for the game winning touchdown with 22 seconds left.

Check out the results of the previous three games after the jump....

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One thing I often forget to do while posting is assessing what our divisional competition is up to.  Obviously we'll do preview stuff the week of games, but considering we play 6 out of 16 games against 3 teams, it's a good idea to keep an eye on them so we have some idea as to what to expect.  Every team in the NFL has some sort of question mark to address in training camp and it'd be nice to know what that is for the rest of the NFC West.

Arizona Cardinals
The Anquan Boldin situation has been the biggest national story out of Cardinals camp.  However, now it appears as if the Drew Rosenhaus client might be backing down a little bit.  I have to say that whether you like Rosenhaus or not, his clients report to camp even when unhappy.  He worked out an extension for Gore so that certainly makes me a slightly bigger fan. 

Aside from Boldin, the offensive line seems to be turning into a bit of an issue.  Their starting center, Al Johnson, is having issues with his knee.  It seems like going back several years, the Cardinals have never been able to fully address their offensive line issue.  Right now, it might be safe to say that they have the worst offensive line in the division if you factor in starters and depth.  As long as the offensive line lacks depth, I'd imagine Edgerrin James will not get completely on track and Leinart will have his work cut out for him.  James finished with 1,222 rushing yards, but only averaged 3.8 a carr, good for 37th in the league.

St. Louis Rams
So, if Dante Hall is leading the way in becoming your #3 receiver, is that a good or bad thing?  I was surprised to see he's only 29, but it feels like he's been around forever.  He'll get a chance to solidify his #3 role as rookie Donnie Avery has suffered a small stress fracture in his hip.  Avery will apparently miss anywhere from a few days to a couple of weeks.  That's certainly not the best way for a rookie receiver to make his mark in camp.

In spite of all the injuries, the biggest national story from Rams camp is the Steven Jackson holdout.  If they can come to terms on a deal I don't think the missed time will be too detrimental.  The good news for the Rams is that they have leverage on their side.  According to the recently voided CBA (which applies to this case), "a player shall not receive an Accrued Season for any League Year in which the player is under contract to a Club and in which he failed to report to such Club at least thirty days prior to the first regular season game of that season.”  So that means Jackson has to report to camp a week by next Friday or he loses a year of service time.  No leverage means Jackson will likely blink first.

Seattle Seahawks
The Seahawks big news (in my mind) is the signing of former 49er great Bryan Gilmore!  Really, what else needs to be said about that, right?  The Seahawks have some solid, if unsung receivers.  If former Super Bowl MVP Deion Branch can stay healthy they'll be even better.  Of course, can 35 year old Bobby Engram repeat his 94 reception season, 3 more than he had the previous 2 seasons combined?

Elsewhere, the Seahawks are excited about the performance of rookie defensive tackle Red Bryant, a fourth round pick.  He had some character issues coming out of school which seemed to contribute a little to his drop.

Now that we've got a Cardinals blogger, the NFC West is complete at SB Nation.  We're looking for ways to cross-blog and keep everybody completely informed on the division.  If you have any suggestions for interaction between the blogs, please let me know.

Over at ESPN's NFC West blog, Mike Sando took a look at some of the acrimonious contract situations in the division.  The division has signed all of their 2008 draft picks, but that doesn't meant people don't want to get P-A-I-D. 

The Rams are dealing with a Pro Bowl holdout in Steven Jackson.  While Anquan Boldin has reported to Cardinals camp, he is not planning on sticking around when his contract expires.  The Seahawks have an unhappy Bobby Engram, not something you want out of your star receiver.

And the 49ers during all of this?  Well, Arnaz Battle missed several days of practice during the OTAs.  No official word was ever given, but most people believe it was dissatisfaction with having his #2 job handed to Bryant Johnson.  You never want your players unhappy, but it's better if it's the potential #3 receiver, as opposed to say, Patrick Willis or Joe Staley.

However, with that in mind, looking back over recent 49ers history shows very few holdouts.  I was trying to figure out who the last 49ers holdout was and I think it was Julian Peterson in 2004.  Rashaun Woods was a threat too, but I can't remember for sure and google is not much help on that.  Of course, it is Rashaun Woods, so who really cares, right?

The 49ers clearly have struggled on the field and battled with inconsistencies and being generally bad since Mooch left town.  However, while the team has struggled under Nolan, they have definitely brought in some quality talent, while also developing some of their own picks within.  During all this time, there has never been contract holdout drama.  One thing that plays in the team's favor is that a rookie's contract apparently cannot be redone until AFTER the second year.  So you get a couple years without holding out after a deal is done.

At the same time, even when it's been last minute, like with Vernon Davis, the team has gotten their draft picks into camp on time.  Making the leap from college to the pros is a big step up and rookies need every minute of training camp they can get.  JaMarcus Russell missed all of training camp last season and I can't begin to imagine how much that stunted his initial growth.  Even for a guy like Kentwan Balmer, getting in on time means he gets to meet with the likes of Bryant Young.  While Balmer probably wouldn't have missed all of training camp, maybe BY only makes it to the early part of camp and he misses out on that chance?  It's all speculation, but worth considering.

So, even though the team has stunk up the joint at times, we can at least take some solace knowing that our front office isn't entirely incompetent.  Over the last couple of months we've seen them re-sign the likes of Delanie Walker and Michael Robinson.  While neither is a starter, they are important cogs that could make key contributions this year and into the future.

So the question then becomes, do the 49ers have Patrick Willis's agent on speed dial for the moment the season ends and they can renegotiate a long term deal while rewarding Bamm Bamm for his all around awesomeness?