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Cardinals first and foremost

Play hard defensively. It’s simple, but the Cardinals seemed to sleep walk through the middle part of this schedule. They lacked intensity and the results were ugly. The unit has played better over the past three weeks, and has seemed to develop some passion for the game. The 49ers’ offense shouldn’t do much today if the Cardinals defense is ready to play. But history suggests that’s a significant “if.”

Cardinals key stat

21.4 That’s the percentage of time the Cardinals have converted on third down over the past eight games. What makes that statistic worse is the Cardinals have not had even one decent outing during that time. Their best effort was 27 percent against the Chiefs. Early in the year, the problem was poor execution on early downs left third-and-long situations. Lately, however, the Cardinals have been in manageable situations, but have been unable to convert.

Cardinals key player

Defensive end Calais Campbell
Over the past month, Campbell is finally playing at the high level expected of him this season. Three of his six sacks have come in December and more than half his tackles (25 of 49). His lack of production in the first months of the season, however, hurt this team greatly. If Campbell continues to play well, the Cardinals’ defensive line is better than average.

Cardinals injury report

OLB Joey Porter (triceps), OLB Clark Haggans (groin), TE Ben Patrick (hamstring), RB LaRod Stephens-Howling (hamstring)

Cardinals on offense

The 49ers’ defense gave the Cardinals trouble even when Kurt Warner was quarterback. Nothing the Cardinals are doing now scares them. The 49ers’ secondary looked confused at times last week against the Rams, but the Cardinals can go for quarters without a first down. They hardly looked receiver Larry Fitzgerald’s way last week, and he caught only one pass. That’s inexcusable for someone who should be the center of the offense. Quarterback John Skelton needs to give Fitzgerald chances to make some plays. The Cardinals have not been able to run much on the 49ers, but the 49ers are playing without inside linebacker Patrick Willis for the first time in four years. If the Cardinals are ever going to move the ball on the ground in San Francisco, today is the day.

Edge: 49ers

49ers first and foremost

The Cardinals are still vulnerable against the run, even though they have employed more of the 4-3 scheme in recent weeks. The 49ers are missing running back Frank Gore, but Brian Westbrook is a capable replacement. He hurt the Cardinals in their first game. The Cardinals can be gashed with big plays, so the 49ers need to hit a couple if they are going to win.

49ers key stat

8 That’s the number of seasons that have passed since the 49ers last had a winning record (10-6 in 2002). Every other team in the division has won at least one division title in that time. This year’s 5-10 record got Mike Singletary fired as coach last week, and the 49ers will go in yet another direction this off-season. The 49ers’ offensive failures are mostly to blame. They’ve changed philosophies, quarterbacks and coordinators like most of us change our socks. And the unit still smells.

49ers key player

LB NaVorro Bowman

For the first time in four years, someone other than Patrick Willis will start at inside linebacker. Bowman, a third-round pick from Penn State, is that guy. Willis has killed the Cardinals, and the rest of the NFL, for the past four years, so no one in Arizona is sorry to see the Pro Bowler sit out with a hand injury. Willis never left the field and was as good against the pass as the run. The Cardinals can only hope that means a more productive running game for them. They’ve averaged 49 rushing yards against the 49ers during the current three-game losing streak.

49ers injury report

CB Phillip Adams (ankle), LB Keaton Kristick (concussion), T Joe Staley (fibula), LB Patrick Willis (hand), out; TE Nate Byham (heel), RB Brian Westbrook (not injury related), C David Baas (ribs), RB Anthony Dixon (ankle), LB Takeo Spikes (hand), TE Vernon Davis (thumb).

49ers on offense

The 49ers have changed quarterbacks, fired offensive coordinators and now have made a change at head coach. The one constant throughout has been a terrible offense. Losing running back Frank Gore to injury was damaging but Brian Westbrook hurt the Cardinals five weeks ago. The Cardinals defense, however, has played better in its past three games. End Calais Campbell is finally producing, and Daryl Washington gives the team more speed at linebacker. Using a 4-3 alignment more has helped a little, too. The Cardinals will need some turnovers to win today, and the secondary could provide them. This group might not always cover as well as it should, but the starters don’t drop many potential interceptions.

Edge: Cardinals

Special teams

49ers punt returner Ted Ginn is dangerous and capable of turning a game around. Kicker Jeff Reed has made all eight field-goal attempts since replacing the injured Joe Nedney. Cardinals returner LaRod Stephens-Howling might miss another game with a sore hamstring, and that’s a blow. The Cardinals need all the help they can get, and Stephens-Howling can change field position and the scoreboard.

Edge: Cardinals

Bottom line

Both teams are 5-10 and have suffered embarrassing losing streaks this season. This game likely will come down to motivation. How hard will each team play with nothing on the line? Players love to talk about this being a rivalry, but it has to be hard to get mentally prepared to play a season finale that means nothing other than draft status. The Cardinals should have the edge. They have won two of three, although both victories were against bad teams.

Prediction

Cardinals 23, 49ers 17

Click here for a slideshow view of this story

Click here for a slideshow view of this story

Cardinals first and foremost

Play hard defensively. It’s simple, but the Cardinals seemed to sleep walk through the middle part of this schedule. They lacked intensity and the results were ugly. The unit has played better over the past three weeks, and has seemed to develop some passion for the game. The 49ers’ offense shouldn’t do much today if the Cardinals defense is ready to play. But history suggests that’s a significant “if.”

Cardinals key stat

21.4 That’s the percentage of time the Cardinals have converted on third down over the past eight games. What makes that statistic worse is the Cardinals have not had even one decent outing during that time. Their best effort was 27 percent against the Chiefs. Early in the year, the problem was poor execution on early downs left third-and-long situations. Lately, however, the Cardinals have been in manageable situations, but have been unable to convert.

Cardinals key player

Defensive end Calais Campbell
Over the past month, Campbell is finally playing at the high level expected of him this season. Three of his six sacks have come in December and more than half his tackles (25 of 49). His lack of production in the first months of the season, however, hurt this team greatly. If Campbell continues to play well, the Cardinals’ defensive line is better than average.

Cardinals injury report

OLB Joey Porter (triceps), OLB Clark Haggans (groin), TE Ben Patrick (hamstring), RB LaRod Stephens-Howling (hamstring)

Cardinals on offense

The 49ers’ defense gave the Cardinals trouble even when Kurt Warner was quarterback. Nothing the Cardinals are doing now scares them. The 49ers’ secondary looked confused at times last week against the Rams, but the Cardinals can go for quarters without a first down. They hardly looked receiver Larry Fitzgerald’s way last week, and he caught only one pass. That’s inexcusable for someone who should be the center of the offense. Quarterback John Skelton needs to give Fitzgerald chances to make some plays. The Cardinals have not been able to run much on the 49ers, but the 49ers are playing without inside linebacker Patrick Willis for the first time in four years. If the Cardinals are ever going to move the ball on the ground in San Francisco, today is the day.

Edge: 49ers

49ers first and foremost

The Cardinals are still vulnerable against the run, even though they have employed more of the 4-3 scheme in recent weeks. The 49ers are missing running back Frank Gore, but Brian Westbrook is a capable replacement. He hurt the Cardinals in their first game. The Cardinals can be gashed with big plays, so the 49ers need to hit a couple if they are going to win.

49ers key stat

8 That’s the number of seasons that have passed since the 49ers last had a winning record (10-6 in 2002). Every other team in the division has won at least one division title in that time. This year’s 5-10 record got Mike Singletary fired as coach last week, and the 49ers will go in yet another direction this off-season. The 49ers’ offensive failures are mostly to blame. They’ve changed philosophies, quarterbacks and coordinators like most of us change our socks. And the unit still smells.

49ers key player

LB NaVorro Bowman

For the first time in four years, someone other than Patrick Willis will start at inside linebacker. Bowman, a third-round pick from Penn State, is that guy. Willis has killed the Cardinals, and the rest of the NFL, for the past four years, so no one in Arizona is sorry to see the Pro Bowler sit out with a hand injury. Willis never left the field and was as good against the pass as the run. The Cardinals can only hope that means a more productive running game for them. They’ve averaged 49 rushing yards against the 49ers during the current three-game losing streak.

49ers injury report

CB Phillip Adams (ankle), LB Keaton Kristick (concussion), T Joe Staley (fibula), LB Patrick Willis (hand), out; TE Nate Byham (heel), RB Brian Westbrook (not injury related), C David Baas (ribs), RB Anthony Dixon (ankle), LB Takeo Spikes (hand), TE Vernon Davis (thumb).

49ers on offense

The 49ers have changed quarterbacks, fired offensive coordinators and now have made a change at head coach. The one constant throughout has been a terrible offense. Losing running back Frank Gore to injury was damaging but Brian Westbrook hurt the Cardinals five weeks ago. The Cardinals defense, however, has played better in its past three games. End Calais Campbell is finally producing, and Daryl Washington gives the team more speed at linebacker. Using a 4-3 alignment more has helped a little, too. The Cardinals will need some turnovers to win today, and the secondary could provide them. This group might not always cover as well as it should, but the starters don’t drop many potential interceptions.

Edge: Cardinals

Special teams

49ers punt returner Ted Ginn is dangerous and capable of turning a game around. Kicker Jeff Reed has made all eight field-goal attempts since replacing the injured Joe Nedney. Cardinals returner LaRod Stephens-Howling might miss another game with a sore hamstring, and that’s a blow. The Cardinals need all the help they can get, and Stephens-Howling can change field position and the scoreboard.

Edge: Cardinals

Bottom line

Both teams are 5-10 and have suffered embarrassing losing streaks this season. This game likely will come down to motivation. How hard will each team play with nothing on the line? Players love to talk about this being a rivalry, but it has to be hard to get mentally prepared to play a season finale that means nothing other than draft status. The Cardinals should have the edge. They have won two of three, although both victories were against bad teams.

Prediction

Cardinals 23, 49ers 17

Click here for a slideshow view of this story

In a perverse way, the 49ers could win big by losing Sunday. Falling to the Arizona Cardinals would secure a premium draft choice for a team in desperate need of a talent infusion.

The pick could be as high as No. 2 with a 49ers loss (and upsets elsewhere) or as low as No. 13 with a victory (depending on final strength-of-schedule figures).

Still, 49ers players and coaches insist they are approaching the game as if the playoffs were at stake, not draft order. There are no plans to give youngsters such as quarterback Nate Davis or safety Taylor Mays an early audition for 2011.

Mike Johnson said anything less than a full effort would go against the grain of professionalism.

Playing in the NFL is a tankless job.

“Whenever we step out on that field, it’s our job to give 100 percent at whatever we do,” the offensive coordinator said Thursday.

The 49ers and Cardinals are both 5-10 heading into the lowdown showdown at Candlestick Park. The loser will get the cushy schedule that comes with being the last-place team in the NFC West.

In terms of draft order, the 49ers could catapult as high as No. 2 — but it’s a fanciful scenario. The long list of upsets required for that to happen includes Buffalo over the Jets, Cincinnati over Baltimore and Denver over San Diego.

The NFL drafts in reverse order of record. The Carolina Panthers (2-13) will own the No. 1 pick regardless of what happens this weekend. There are three

teams at 4-11, six teams at 5-10 and four teams at 6-9.

When teams tie, strength of schedule serves as a tiebreaker. Based on the current standings, the 49ers would draft sixth.

As far as Jim Tomsula is concerned, however, Mel Kiper Jr. can wait. The 49ers’ interim head coach said he is approaching the Cardinals game as a must-win and recoiled any time someone suggested that the 49ers would use the game as a chance to look at young players who had been buried on the bench.

“No, absolutely not,” Tomsula said. “It’s crystal clear where our approach is here. . . . The evaluation process is ongoing always. Yeah, I understand all that and where we are with our record. But what we’re preparing for is to go in and compete to win.”

That secures another game on the sideline for players such as Davis, the fifth-round pick in 2009 who has yet to take the field for a regular-season game.

While Alex Smith and Troy Smith bounced back and forth between starting duty, Davis just watched from afar as a member of the practice squad. He didn’t take any reps even in practice, where if he was on the field it was to line up as a tight end on the scout team.

That could get frustrating.

“Of course,” Davis said. “I definitely wanted to get brought up. But that’s part of the business. Every day I’m just here learning from these guys — Alex, (David Carr), Troy. They’re teaching me a lot of things, so I just keep learning every day.”

Davis is a free agent. He said there have been no discussions about his future with the 49ers beyond this season but added: “I plan on coming back here.”

In the meantime, he will spend the offseason in Indianapolis to work out with a personal trainer to cut down his body fat.

Alex Smith will start at quarterback Sunday, probably for his last time as a 49er. He is eligible for free agency, and 49ers president Jed York has already described quarterback as area “of need” for 2011.

Still, York is the only one peeking ahead. Johnson wouldn’t even address questions about Davis because the practice-squad quarterback has nothing to do with beating the Cardinals.

“That is something that I don’t want to get into at this point. If you ask me this question on Monday, I will give you a different answer,” Johnson said. “But today my focus is on Arizona. It’s on Alex Smith being the starting quarterback and putting the game plan together for this week.”

For more on the 49ers, see Daniel Brown’s Hot Read blog at blogs.mercurynews.com/49ers.

In a perverse way, the 49ers could win big by losing Sunday. Falling to the Arizona Cardinals would secure a premium draft choice for a team in desperate need of a talent infusion.

The pick could be as high as No. 2 with a 49ers loss (and upsets elsewhere) or as low as No. 13 with a victory (depending on final strength-of-schedule figures).

Still, 49ers players and coaches insist they are approaching the game as if the playoffs were at stake, not draft order. There are no plans to give youngsters such as quarterback Nate Davis or safety Taylor Mays an early audition for 2011.

Mike Johnson said anything less than a full effort would go against the grain of professionalism.

Playing in the NFL is a tankless job.

“Whenever we step out on that field, it’s our job to give 100 percent at whatever we do,” the offensive coordinator said Thursday.

The 49ers and Cardinals are both 5-10 heading into the lowdown showdown at Candlestick Park. The loser will get the cushy schedule that comes with being the last-place team in the NFC West.

In terms of draft order, the 49ers could catapult as high as No. 2 — but it’s a fanciful scenario. The long list of upsets required for that to happen includes Buffalo over the Jets, Cincinnati over Baltimore and Denver over San Diego.

The NFL drafts in reverse order of record. The Carolina Panthers (2-13) will own the No. 1 pick regardless of what happens this weekend. There are three

teams at 4-11, six teams at 5-10 and four teams at 6-9.

When teams tie, strength of schedule serves as a tiebreaker. Based on the current standings, the 49ers would draft sixth.

As far as Jim Tomsula is concerned, however, Mel Kiper Jr. can wait. The 49ers’ interim head coach said he is approaching the Cardinals game as a must-win and recoiled any time someone suggested that the 49ers would use the game as a chance to look at young players who had been buried on the bench.

“No, absolutely not,” Tomsula said. “It’s crystal clear where our approach is here. . . . The evaluation process is ongoing always. Yeah, I understand all that and where we are with our record. But what we’re preparing for is to go in and compete to win.”

That secures another game on the sideline for players such as Davis, the fifth-round pick in 2009 who has yet to take the field for a regular-season game.

While Alex Smith and Troy Smith bounced back and forth between starting duty, Davis just watched from afar as a member of the practice squad. He didn’t take any reps even in practice, where if he was on the field it was to line up as a tight end on the scout team.

That could get frustrating.

“Of course,” Davis said. “I definitely wanted to get brought up. But that’s part of the business. Every day I’m just here learning from these guys — Alex, (David Carr), Troy. They’re teaching me a lot of things, so I just keep learning every day.”

Davis is a free agent. He said there have been no discussions about his future with the 49ers beyond this season but added: “I plan on coming back here.”

In the meantime, he will spend the offseason in Indianapolis to work out with a personal trainer to cut down his body fat.

Alex Smith will start at quarterback Sunday, probably for his last time as a 49er. He is eligible for free agency, and 49ers president Jed York has already described quarterback as area “of need” for 2011.

Still, York is the only one peeking ahead. Johnson wouldn’t even address questions about Davis because the practice-squad quarterback has nothing to do with beating the Cardinals.

“That is something that I don’t want to get into at this point. If you ask me this question on Monday, I will give you a different answer,” Johnson said. “But today my focus is on Arizona. It’s on Alex Smith being the starting quarterback and putting the game plan together for this week.”

For more on the 49ers, see Daniel Brown’s Hot Read blog at blogs.mercurynews.com/49ers.

In a perverse way, the 49ers could win big by losing Sunday. Falling to the Arizona Cardinals would secure a premium draft choice for a team in desperate need of a talent infusion.

The pick could be as high as No. 2 with a 49ers loss (and upsets elsewhere) or as low as No. 13 with a victory (depending on final strength-of-schedule figures).

Still, 49ers players and coaches insist they are approaching the game as if the playoffs were at stake, not draft order. There are no plans to give youngsters such as quarterback Nate Davis or safety Taylor Mays an early audition for 2011.

Mike Johnson said anything less than a full effort would go against the grain of professionalism.

Playing in the NFL is a tankless job.

“Whenever we step out on that field, it’s our job to give 100 percent at whatever we do,” the offensive coordinator said Thursday.

The 49ers and Cardinals are both 5-10 heading into the lowdown showdown at Candlestick Park. The loser will get the cushy schedule that comes with being the last-place team in the NFC West.

In terms of draft order, the 49ers could catapult as high as No. 2 — but it’s a fanciful scenario. The long list of upsets required for that to happen includes Buffalo over the Jets, Cincinnati over Baltimore and Denver over San Diego.

The NFL drafts in reverse order of record. The Carolina Panthers (2-13) will own the No. 1 pick regardless of what happens this weekend. There are three

teams at 4-11, six teams at 5-10 and four teams at 6-9.

When teams tie, strength of schedule serves as a tiebreaker. Based on the current standings, the 49ers would draft sixth.

As far as Jim Tomsula is concerned, however, Mel Kiper Jr. can wait. The 49ers’ interim head coach said he is approaching the Cardinals game as a must-win and recoiled any time someone suggested that the 49ers would use the game as a chance to look at young players who had been buried on the bench.

“No, absolutely not,” Tomsula said. “It’s crystal clear where our approach is here. . . . The evaluation process is ongoing always. Yeah, I understand all that and where we are with our record. But what we’re preparing for is to go in and compete to win.”

That secures another game on the sideline for players such as Davis, the fifth-round pick in 2009 who has yet to take the field for a regular-season game.

While Alex Smith and Troy Smith bounced back and forth between starting duty, Davis just watched from afar as a member of the practice squad. He didn’t take any reps even in practice, where if he was on the field it was to line up as a tight end on the scout team.

That could get frustrating.

“Of course,” Davis said. “I definitely wanted to get brought up. But that’s part of the business. Every day I’m just here learning from these guys — Alex, (David Carr), Troy. They’re teaching me a lot of things, so I just keep learning every day.”

Davis is a free agent. He said there have been no discussions about his future with the 49ers beyond this season but added: “I plan on coming back here.”

In the meantime, he will spend the offseason in Indianapolis to work out with a personal trainer to cut down his body fat.

Alex Smith will start at quarterback Sunday, probably for his last time as a 49er. He is eligible for free agency, and 49ers president Jed York has already described quarterback as area “of need” for 2011.

Still, York is the only one peeking ahead. Johnson wouldn’t even address questions about Davis because the practice-squad quarterback has nothing to do with beating the Cardinals.

“That is something that I don’t want to get into at this point. If you ask me this question on Monday, I will give you a different answer,” Johnson said. “But today my focus is on Arizona. It’s on Alex Smith being the starting quarterback and putting the game plan together for this week.”

For more on the 49ers, see Daniel Brown’s Hot Read blog at blogs.mercurynews.com/49ers.