NFL: 49ers take what Cards give in win

SAN FRANCISCO — The Arizona Cardinals threw away a chance to clinch a second straight NFC West crown.

Alex Smith threw touchdown passes after two of Arizona's seven turnovers, Frank Gore ran for 167 yards and another score and the San Francisco 49ers kept their slim playoff hopes alive with a dominant 24-9 victory Monday night.

With a relentless defensive attack, San Francisco forced the sloppy Cardinals into five first-half turnovers and kept Kurt Warner from finding a groove. Warner threw two interceptions in the opening half after going 130 passes without a pick. Now, Arizona (8-5) can still clinch the division by winning two of its final three games.

Gore had his most productive game since Week 2, running over a Cardinals defense that held Adrian Peterson to just 19 yards in a win against Minnesota last week. Gore was certainly motivated for a big night after getting only 30 yards on 22 carries in a season-opening victory at Arizona on Sept. 13.

Smith, coming off a loss at Seattle last week in which he threw for a career-high 310 yards, connected on TD passes to Vernon Davis and Michael Crabtree and finished 19 of 35 for 144 yards. The 49ers (6-7) answered coach Mike Singletary's challenge to make a statement on the national stage against the reigning NFC champions.

The Cardinals had their second game with six or more turnovers of the season, much to the delight of the sellout crowd at Candlestick Park. The 49ers had a franchise-record five forced fumbles, two by safety Dashon Goldson.

Not long ago, San Francisco hoped this game would be for the division title, but the Niners had lost six of eight following a 3-1 start, including five straight road games by 19 total points since the victory at Arizona. They sure showed up for this one, on a night former San Francisco stars Steve Young and Jerry Rice worked the pregame show for ESPN on the sideline.

Warner followed the best four-game stretch of his career with a dud — going 16 of 29 for 178 yards with two interceptions and being sacked four times. Warner, who joined Johnny Unitas as the only quarterbacks to post a passer rating of at least 120 in four straight games, had gone 130 passes without an interception before Goldson picked off a pass intended for Steve Breaston early in the second quarter. Warner later threw another.

And it didn't help matters the Cardinals lost star receiver Larry Fitzgerald early in the second half to a right knee injury after Goldson landed on him. He later returned.