Cardinals vs. 49ers: San Francisco Grades, Notes and Quotes

The San Francisco 49ers' Week 12 matchup versus the Arizona Cardinals was a classic David-versus-Goliath storyline between a 49ers team at the bottom of the NFC West and offensive ranking and a Cardinals team atop the division and No. 1 in the league on offense entering the contest.

But the game didn't exactly resemble an offensive showing from either side over the first half.

San Francisco's defense, a week removed from being manhandled by running back Thomas Rawls and the Seattle Seahawks, held Arizona to just two field goals and 128 total yards in the first half. But the 49ers offense fared little better, as San Francisco trailed 6-3 after two quarters.

A spirited yet penalty-riddled defensive stand from the 49ers couldn't keep the Cardinals out of the end zone in the third quarter. Yet quarterback Blaine Gabbert found tight end Vance McDonald to help cut the Arizona lead to 13-10.

A field goal from kicker Phil Dawson tied the game at the 1:28 mark of the third quarter.

Additional 49ers penalties led the way to a 19-13 Cardinals lead late in the fourth.

San Francisco tried to overcome a 4th-and-20 to come away with a last-minute win, but wide receiver Anquan Boldin got just 18 yards.

The 49ers fell to 3-8, while the Cardinals increased their hold on the division with a 9-2 record.

Position Grades

Quarterback: B-

Gabbert continued to make a campaign for a 2016 starting job for San Francisco. He finished the day with 25 completions on 36 attempts for a career-high 318 yards and one touchdown versus an interception.

Gabbert took a critical sack on the final 49ers drive, which set up a 4th-and-20 upon which the offense couldn't convert.

But his 94.4 passer rating against a tough Cardinals defense is commendable.

Running Back: C

With Carlos Hyde (foot) still out, running back Shaun Draughn continued to start for the 49ers offense and managed 51 yards on 15 carries for an average of 3.4 yards per attempt. His longest went for 19 yards, but the Cardinals defense managed to bottle him up well enough in the second half.

Draughn also managed 35 receiving yards on five catches. He's been a serviceable, if not outstanding, option for the 49ers in Hyde's absence.

Wide Receiver: C-

Boldin has back-to-back 93-yard games after posting the same total versus both the Seattle Seahawks and Cardinals in Weeks 11 and 12, respectively.

No. 1 wide receiver Torrey Smith had 51 yards and a nice 41-yard catch from Gabbert. San Francisco's other receivers—Quinton Patton, Jerome Simpson and Bruce Ellington—were virtually non-factors in the receiving game.

Tight End: A

The 49ers lost No. 1 tight end Garrett Celek to an ankle injury but got solid production out of fellow tight ends Blake Bell and Vance McDonald. McDonald had his second career touchdown reception and is becoming a favorite target of Gabbert.

McDonald had 71 receiving yards, and Bell posted 67 of his own.

Offensive Line: B-

San Francisco's offensive line had a substantial task against a talented Arizona defense and held its own well enough to allow Gabbert to throw for 300-plus yards. The run-blocking aspect of this unit remains a bit of an issue, though.

Center Daniel Kilgore can't come back soon enough.

Defensive Line: A-

The 49ers didn't allow a repeat of what happened in Seattle in Week 11. At home, the 49ers defense plays well, and the effort started up front with the defensive line. The Cardinals managed just 70 rushing yards for an average of 2.4 yards per carry.

But there was the questionable penalty on defensive tackle Quinton Dial for his hit on Cardinals QB Carson Palmer.

Linebacker: A

Linebacker NaVorro Bowman was tied for the lead in tackles in Week 12, and linebacker Aaron Lynch also applied some good pressure on Palmer.

Third-year linebacker Corey Lemonier and rookie Eli Harold also put forward some solid efforts both against the running game and in the pass rush.

Defensive Back: B-

Holding the high-powered Cardinals offense to less than 20 points should be an all-around victory for the 49ers defense.

But the secondary had a few forgettable moments, including some costly penalties and a dropped would-be interception by cornerback Tramaine Brock in the first half. The missed play led to three points by the Arizona offense.

Special Teams: B

Kicker Phil Dawson continued to be a force for San Francisco's offense, and that may or may not be a good thing.

Ellington muffed a punt, which turned the ball over to Arizona in the first half. 

Coaching: C

Credit has to go to defensive coordinator Eric Mangini and his efforts to hold Arizona's first-place offense in check for the majority of the game. The offense also had its moments, including a gutsy fourth-down conversion late in the second quarter.

But 13 penalties for 81 yards has to point toward a scapegoat—aside from the officiating—and the coaching staff has to bear a portion of the blame here.

Celek was the beneficiary of two touchdown passes from Gabbert in Week 9, and McDonald has now recorded his first two touchdown receptions in back-to-back games.

An ankle injury removed Celek from the game, which allowed both McDonald and Bell to assume larger roles on offense.

The two combined for 138 yards, nine receptions and a touchdown, and they will likely be a favorite tandem for Gabbert moving forward.

Bell may be the more enticing player to watch down the stretch, as San Francisco will look to see the potential from its fourth-round pick.

The Cardinals entered Week 12 with the No. 1-ranked offense with 336 points scored and 4,173 all-purpose yards.

Considering what happened to the 49ers defense in Seattle last week, this contest looked as if it would be a complete meltdown from San Francisco's vantage point.

But the 49ers defense managed to hold Arizona's offense to just 337 yards—31 fewer than the 368 posted by San Francisco's offense. The 49ers' pass rush hit Palmer nine times.

Minus the penalties, the 49ers defense displayed an inspired effort at home against a Cardinals offense riding high through this point in the season.

That could be a solid building point moving forward for this San Francisco franchise.

Citing the officiating in an NFL contest is usually substandard content when evaluating the outcome of any given contest.

However, it's nearly impossible to overlook the league's efforts here between San Francisco and Arizona.

True, the 49ers didn't help themselves with 13 penalties for 81 yards, and the Cardinals' first touchdown in the third quarter was marked by repeated flags against San Francisco backed up against the goal line.

That won't help.

But the penalty against Dial, which helped set up the Cardinals' game-winning touchdown, probably shouldn't have been called—at least according to Fox Sports' rules analyst Mike Pereira.

Later on the same drive, Arizona was not flagged for a delay of game, even though the play clock read zero longer than the typical one-second cushion.

A number of 49ers players had some choice words for the officiating efforts.

On that note...

Head coach Jim Tomsula didn't want to comment on what happened with the officials in Week 12.

"I'm not going to comment on the officiating," Tomsula said, per John Dickinson of 95.7 The Game.

But other players didn't hold back.

Dial, whose hit on quarterback Carson Palmer was flagged as a late hit, didn't feel the penalty was warranted.

"It was a bad call," he said, according to Joe Fann of 49ers.com.

Torrey Smith was also flagged for a sideline interference call after an official bumped into him.

"You bump into a ref, you'd think we punched them in the face," Smith said, per Jennifer Chan of Niners Nation.

But, perhaps, the most candid complaint came from offensive guard Alex Boone.

"I'm not too worried about getting fined," Boone said, per KNBR 680. "I thought those refs sucked."

Gabbert has managed to be an effective, sometimes stellar, signal-caller for San Francisco's offense through three games.

One touchdown versus an interception still doesn't mark an amazing showing from the quarterback position, but Gabbert still made a number of solid throws under center and posted just the second 300-plus-yard game of his career.

Still, the quarterback recognizes the 49ers offense needs to do a better job when provided the opportunity.

"We have to find a way to get more points on the board," Gabbert said, according to the team's Twitter account. "At the end of the day we lost and we're in a wins-and-losses business."

San Francisco was 0-of-9 on third-down conversion attempts.

"I'm taking it one game at a time, one day at a time," Gabbert continued.

There is a strong possibility Gabbert earns a starting job at quarterback in 2016, and such performances will continue to reinforce that theory.

Another loss and a 3-8 record is hardly anything about which the 49ers can feel good, but San Francisco was in a position to possibly come away with a victory against a surging Cardinals team that entered the game with the No. 1 offense and a defense ranking fourth in fewest yards allowed (3,222).

Bowman, who had eight tackles and one quarterback hit, felt as if the 49ers' performance could be one of those moments upon which the team can build.

"I do think today was a sign of progress," Bowman said, per 49ers.com. "We have no moral victories, but we can definitely build off this.

"For us to respond like that after losing the way we did the first game, I think says a lot about this team."

San Francisco lost 47-7 in Week 3 in a game completely dominated by the Cardinals from start to finish.

Bowman and the 49ers defense will be looking at the remainder of 2015 for additional opportunities for improvement en route to what will be a critical offseason for a young and developing defense.

All statistics, injury reports, records and accolades courtesy of Pro-Football-Reference.com and ESPN.com unless otherwise indicated.

Peter Panacy is a Featured Columnist covering the San Francisco 49ers for Bleacher Report. Follow him @PeterPanacy on Twitter.