The San Francisco 49ers suffered a surprising 21-19 loss to the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday at University of Phoenix Stadium. It was only the third loss of the season for San Francisco, as they were stifled by an unexpectedly formidable Arizona defense.
The 49ers took a 12-7 lead into halftime, although it was telling that they reached the Cardinals red zone three times and were forced to settle for four David Akers field goals in the first half, from 46, 22, 27 and 22 yards, respectively. Akers finished the day four-for-five on FG attempts and set the franchise record for attempts made in a season. His 36 field goals and 42 attempts are career highs. His135 points this season are third all-time for a 49ers player in a single season. With one more successful field goal, he will pass kicker Mike Cofer and tie Jerry Rice for first all-time with 138 points, a mark set by Rice in 1987. Believe it or not, but Akers ranks first in the NFL for points scored in 2011.
The only other scoring that the offense would be able to muster was an early third quarter rushing touchdown from Frank Gore, who broke off a 37 yard run that took him to the end zone. Gore led all rushers with 72 yards in the game on 10 carries. At the end of the day, Gore had picked up his fifth season of 1,000 rushing yards or more. He joins LaDainian Tomlinson, Steven Jackson, Thomas Jones and Ricky Williams as the only active NFL players who have five or more 1,000-yard seasons. His touchdown was also the longest rushing TD of the season for the 49ers.
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