clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

49ers vs. Cardinals final score: Kaepernick, Crabtree, defense lead San Francisco to NFC West title

We take a quick look at the 49ers 27-13 victory over the Arizona Cardinals, ensuring San Francisco's second straight NFC West division title.

USA TODAY Sports

The San Francisco 49ers wrapped up their second consecutive NFC West title on Sunday as they put together a dominant second half en route to a 27-13 win. The 49ers struggled early, but a strong defensive effort, and a monster day from Michael Crabtree was the difference. The win clinches the 49ers no worse than the three seed, and they await the result of Packers-Vikings to determine if they will play the Bears next Sunday, or get a bye into round two as the No. 2 seed.

The game was not looking remotely pretty for most of the first half. The 49ers offense could get absolutely nothing going, trailing 6-0 midway through the second quarter. Nothing was going right, including in the kicking game, as David Akers had a nightmare first half where he missed a pair of field goals. Fortunately, Colin Kaepernick and Michael Crabtree figured something out. Kap and Crab connected on a pair of passes for 80 yards as the 49ers took a 7-6 lead into the half.

The second half saw the 49ers flip some kind of switch and just blow things up. Crabtree and Kaepernick remained hot, as Crabtree finished with a career-high 172 yards on eight catches, with a pair of touchdowns. The defense stepped up as well, finally getting to Brian Hoyer, and shutting down the Cardinals run-game. We'll have plenty more on it, but suffice to say, it was truly a tail of two halves.

We'll have plenty more, including an update once the Packers-Vikings game goes final.