VICTORY!!! - 49ers 37, Cardinals 31

What a ridiculous game. There were at least a dozen moments on Sunday afternoon when I thought, the offensive explosion notwithstanding, the Niners were headed for their franchise-record, ninth straight loss. After Gore rumbled 35 yards to give us the lead with 1:03 left, I felt good. Then the defense came out in a prevent to let the Cards march right down the field. When Donald Strickland gave up the 30-yard pass to the 1, I was ready to call this the newest low of a trying season.

Then a funny thing happened: this team showed some resilience. Strickland bounced back on the very next play to save the game with his textbook defense. The defense shook off a career passing day from Kurt Warner to stall the Cards' first drive in OT. Patrick (21 tackles?!) Willis saved the game with his hustle by chasing down Sean Morey and forcing Neil Rackers' miss. Andy Lee continued his All-Pro year by pounding a punt inside the Cardinals' 5-yardline that helped set up the defensive sack and Tully Banta-Cain's fumble recovery to end the roller-coaster game.

I can't remember being this entertained by a Niner game in a couple years. Even when Rackers' first OT FG attempt went through the uprights, I was left thinking "Well, at least we scored some points." Hopefully Nolan learned that sometimes opening up the offense and scoring points can actually win games.

Let's not lose perspective though: the Niners season is still a disappointment. The way they celebrated at the end of the game, one would think they had just clinched the division, rather than moved to 3-8. I still think this team will finish with 4 wins for the year, Nolan should be stripped of some power, and there are gaping talent holes at certain positions. But actually winning a game for the first time in over 2 months makes it a lot easier to think about that stuff.