Generally speaking, I don't know any 49ers fans that are particularly fond of the Arizona Cardinals. Darnell Dockett gets under my skin, Kurt Warner and his wife bug me, and then there are many of their fans. Every fan base has their obnoxious fans, but a lot of Cardinals fans just plain bug me. I'll be honest, they remind me of a lot of Angels fans shortly after they won the World Series when every "long-time" fan came out of the woodwork. I'll be honest, the only time I actually kind of enjoyed the Cardinals was when Jake Plummer was there QB. I enjoyed Jake the Snake, and most of his time there the Cardinals were not in the NFC West.
However, since the 49ers are not in the playoffs, the wild finish to today's game has me thinking: Should 49ers fans be cheering for the Cardinals to win it all? This has absolutely nothing to do with being able to say the 49ers beat the Super Bowl champs twice. As far as I'm concerned, that's fairly meaningless. If the Vikings or Colts win the Super Bowl, we could say the 49ers almost beat the Super Bowl champs. It has just as much value.
However, I ask this more in light of today's news that sources are saying Kurt Warner is going to retire after this season. Rumors have floated since the concussion earlier this season, but this is the first time this kind of talk is being reported in any kind of detail. It has me thinking that a Super Bowl win would be the kind of thing that would make it easier for Kurt Warner to walk away. Obviously he already has a Super Bowl ring, but being able to walk away on top certainly would make the ending a lot easier.
So in the end, while I did not get particularly excited about the fumble return for a TD in overtime, I also know that maybe it takes us one step closer to a Kurt Warner-free NFC West. And of course, if they do get knocked out in the next week or two, it is sort of a win-win situation I suppose.