Postgame notes: Cardinals edge 49ers

Every team in the NFL (sans the Packers) has lost a game that they should've won. Even the good teams (sans the Packers again) have found a way to drop a game against an inferior opponent.

The Patriots lost to the 5-8 Bills. The Ravens lost to the Seahawks and Jaguars. The Saints lost to the Rams...

So first off, the 49ers were due for something like this to happen.

A few things we learned:

Lesson No. 1: Never take a win for granted.
Lesson No. 2: Backup quarterbacks can and will beat you if you give up big plays and don't tackle.
Lesson No. 3: Settling for field goals will cost you in the end.

So now that that's out of the way, let's try to explain what happened. On the Cardinals first TD, the Niners were not in the right position, allowing Early Doucet to score a 60-yard touchdown.

Over the course of a season, these things happen. I was willing to give the 49ers a pass for the blown coverage.

The Cardinals second TD was an amazing play by Larry Fitzgerald. He kicked Goldson in the air as he caught the ball at its highest point. Goldson was injured on the play, allowing Fitzgerald to walk into the end zone.

The last TD drive was set up by a Fitzgerald 50-yard catch and run in which he broke several tackles in the 49ers secondary. The Cardinals cashed in with a TD catch by Andre Roberts.

So the 49ers were in poor positions and didn't tackle well on the three big plays. Fortunately (or unfortunately depending on what happens), the SF secondary will have a chance at redemption against the equally talented receiving corps of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

But once again, as I type about the failures of the defense, I think to myself, the unit forced three turnovers and seven punts. All things considered, it was a decent performance.

The offense was atrocious. The early injury to Joe Staley didn't help, but excuses aside, the offense is not clicking. The Niners were 0-3 in the red zone, with the most frustrating sequence coming after Ted Ginn's 52-yard punt return to the Cardinals 4-yard.

The ugliest stat: 3 for 17 on third downs. Credit the Niners defense and special teams for great field position. Without it, the Niners easily could have been shut out in this game.

We all would have liked to see Frank Gore have more than 10 carries, especially when he was averaging more than seven yards a pop. Gore would've had a lot more carries if the Niners could have sustained more drives.

The Niners averaged just 3.7 yards per play, another awful stat. Five sacks contributed to this total.

Anyways, next up are the 10-3 Steelers. My early guess is that Ben Roethlisberger will play. He won't be 100 percent, but who is at this point? The Niners defense tends to play better at home, and they will have to be at their best against Big Ben if they want to get their 11th win.

Stats to note:
This was just the second time the 49ers have allowed three touchdowns in a game this season. The other time was against the Cowboys in Week 2.

David Akers needs five field goals to break Neil Rackers's all-time record of 40 field goals in one season.