The Niners may have had a bye this week but with their top two divisional opponents playing each other and finally getting their first round pick in practice this week there was a lot for the coaching staff to look at. The Niners second games against the Cardinals and the Seahawks come at the end of the season so the injury problems that the Cardinals were able to take advantage of may not be present in week 13 but the Cardinals essentially just wrote the book on how to stuff the Seahawks running game and you bet Singletary is taking a close look at the tape.

The Seahawks running backs were running behind a bunch of back ups for the most part, but no matter the reason 14 rushing yards and a combined 128 yards of offense in 60 minutes of football is not going to win you many games and unless they start getting healthy along the offensive line the Seahawks are going to have a long season. The season might get even longer for them if the line keeps allowing 9 hits on the QB as they did against Arizona this week. Knowing Matt Hasselbeck’s injury history and his age if that pace keeps up he could find himself on the sidelines again in a few weeks.

The Cardinal’s offense is getting more and more in sync and the season goes on, something most people figured would happen but still not a good sign for the other teams in their division. Kurt Warner and Larry Fitzgerald showed why you can’t give Warner time in the pocket if you expect to beat this team. Warner and Fitzgerald connected 13 times for 100 yards and a touchdown while the two receivers behind him (Anquan Boldin and Steve Breaston) showed why a defense can’t just focus on Larry with a combined 13 catches for 131 yards and a touchdown. To go head to head with that kind of production the 49er secondary is going to need to show it can bounce back from allowing a big play, something they weren’t able to do against Atlanta.

Back in the Bay Area Michael Crabtree has been making enough of an impression to work his way into the starting line up at the X receiver position. It is great news for the Niners that Crabtree is looking that good in practice already, but I must say I am confused about where they are lining him up. Crabtree is a natural Z receiver and considering Issac Bruce’s struggles so far this year compounded with the fact that Josh Morgan (the previous starting X receiver) is leading the Niners wide receivers in catches I am surprised they didn’t start Crabtree at the Z position and have both him and Morgan on the field at the same time. My first guess as to why the Niner coaching staff went this direction is because most of the time the routes the Z receiver has to run are more complicated and require better familiarity with the quarterback than one can expect to have after just two weeks. However, Morgan has spelled Bruce at the Z position a number of times this year and if he can handle that duty as the starter for a game or two (which is all the time I expect Crabtree to stay at the X before moving over to the Z) then I would prefer to have Morgan and Crabtree starting opposed to Bruce and Crabtree.

Wherever Crabtree lines up on the field the 49ers organization is simply hoping he can help their offense stay on the field longer and put more points on the board. This becomes even more important now that the Cardinals tied the Niners division leading 3-2 record. The tied record also reminds the Niners how important divisional games are, this tie makes it even more important that the Niners beat the Cardinals in Candlestick Park at the end of the year to ensure their grasp on the tiebreaker in case the NFC West playoff spot comes down to that, and the way things are shaping up they look like they just might.