And Close Wins Over Bad Teams Are Still Wins, Too

Arizona beat the 49ers 19-13, which is not the beatdown I was hoping for, but considering I was worried this was going to be a trap game, where Arizona got cocky and ended up losing, I'll take this result. They let Blaine Gabbert throw for over 300 yards, which is not something I expected to happen. I don't know if it was shoddy tackling, poor coverage, or what. Blake Bell had a 48 yard reception, and Torrey Smith had a 41 yarder. But all that passing only resulted in one TD, which is the important thing.

Arizona didn't turn the ball over, which is good, although Palmer tried to spike it after running for the go-ahead TD, and faceplanted. As long as he didn't concuss himself, I don't really care, though. Chris Johnson had a rough game, only getting 17 yards on 12 carries. He's been slowed significantly in the past few weeks. I don't know if defenses have adjusted to what Arians was doing to try and help him be successful, if he's getting tired, if Iupati's injury has damaged the run blocking, or they're just running into good defenses lately.

It could just have been because it's a division game. Those are usually a little tougher, a little more tense. The Rams were crushed by the Bengals this week, but I doubt Arizona will be able to likewise stomp St. Louis this weekend. As long as they win, that'll be fine, because the Rams are one of the only remaining bad teams left on Arizona's schedule (along with the Eagles, who did a very convincing impression of a team that's packed it in against the Lions on Thanksgiving). And the Seahawks are still lurking 3 games back with 5 games to go.