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Putting a cap on it

Sitting here in early February, more than a month before free agency (March 13), exact salary cap numbers are not yet important. But they will be. So with that, and to get some perspective (if not concrete groundwork) for what lies ahead for the front office, this breakdown by Omar Kelly at the Sun-Sentinel is helpful. The Cards, as of now, are schedule to have about $118 million against the cap, which is projected to be in the $123M-$124M range (it has not yet been set). This is a 2012 projection, so it already eliminates contracts that are expiring.

That number includes for now the contract of tackle Levi Brown, who is scheduled to have a cap number of almost $17M but won’t have that by the time free agency begins. Brown will either have to be restructured or be released, but even if he comes back, that will lower the number considerably. Right now, the Cards have 11 players who are scheduled to have cap numbers of at least $3M in 2012: Brown, WR Larry Fitzgerald ($14.5M), QB Kevin Kolb ($10.5M), DT Darnell Dockett ($6.6M), S Adrian Wilson ($7.5M), S Kerry Rhodes ($5M), LB Stewart Bradley ($6.5M), G Daryn Colledge ($5.5M) CB Patrick Peterson ($4.2M), C Lyle Sendlein ($3.3M) and TE Todd Heap ($3.4M).

That number will increase by one, one way or the other. Defensive end Calais Campbell’s cap hit should easily join that group, whether it is through a new long-term contract or because of a franchise tag (projected to be at least $10.5M for defensive ends.) That also doesn’t include the handful of restricted free agent tenders that must be submitted before free agency starts.

(A reminder, however, that the offseason cap is figured with only the top 51 salaries. The entire roster doesn’t have to be taken into account until the start of the regular season.)

Working with Wilson and his traps

You’d think at some point Adrian Wilson would have earned his way into ESPN The Magazine’s “Body Issue” but alas, the safety has not. But that didn’t stop E.T.M. from flying the Cards’ Pro Bowl safety out last week to put together a photo shoot and this video about A-Dub’s workouts, philosophy and unreal traps. (I mean, seriously, his trapezius muscles almost don’t look real).

I saw Wilson down in the locker room briefly today. I am guessing he was headed out to Hawaii and the Pro Bowl sooner rather than later. He did say he expected the photos to be in the magazine in the next week or two.

A-Dub does charity, autographs

A week from tomorrow — January 20 — Pro Bowl safety Adrian Wilson will use his High Point Shoes store (and himself) to help raise money for medical care, supplies and a medical clinic for needy children in Haiti.

From 4 to 7 p.m. on that Friday, Wilson will autograph every pair of shoes purchased and autograph other items for a $20 donation (there will also be signed photos available for $10), with all the money benefiting Global Family Philanthropy and Youth Against Poverty with help from The Adrian Wilson Foundation. (Wilson also donated $70,000 worth of shoes to the cause). It is all tax deductible. Many shoes available will also be heavily discounted.

This will all take place at the Scottsdale Waterfront, 7135 E Camelback Rd., between Wilson’s High Point store and Sauce restaurant. The fund-raising will go on both this weekend and next in the same place to raise money. For more info, click here. Wilson’s website is right here.

Peterson works, Wilson cleared, and some awards

Cornerback Patrick Peterson did do some work in practice Friday and will be worked out before Sunday’s game to determine if he can play coming off the Achilles injury. He’s said all week he wants to be smart; I think this will truly come down to how Peterson feels Sunday. Quarterback Kevin Kolb is apparently in the same boat, technically, but he remains stuck with concussion symptoms and, other than coach Ken Whisenhunt declining to declare Kolb out officially, conventional wisdom says Kolb won’t be in there.

Safety Kerry Rhodes (ankle) is still sore. His status figures to be a game-day decision too.

– Safety Adrian Wilson was not fined for the play in Cincinnati when officials flagged him for hitting Bengals QB Andy Dalton helmet-to-helmet. No fine generally means there was no foul. That hurts, since Peterson intercepted the pass on the play. It’s really no surprise, though, since from the moment the flag was dropped it seemed like Wilson was the recipient of a bad call.

– Defensive tackle Darnell Dockett was fined for a pair of $15,000 no-nos: Hitting Dalton below the knees and a horsecollar tackle.

– Finally, Defensive end Calais Campbell received the Lloyd Herberg Award for team MVP and wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald took home the Steve Schoenfeld “Good Guy” Award for the player deemed best for the media in annual honors handed out by the local chapter of the Pro Football Writers Association.

Campbell’s accomplishments have been well-documented. Fitzgerald, meanwhile, has come a long, long way in his dealings with the Fourth Estate. If you would have asked me in 2006 if he would ever win this award, I’d have laughed. But Fitz has been great – he was considered for the award last year – in terms of access and he’s really good when you are able to get him one-on-one. He’s always talking about improving year to year, so maybe this is just him getting better.

Herberg was the original Arizona Republic beat writer covering the Cards before he lost his life to cancer. Schoenfeld was the long-time Republic Cards and NFL writer who was working for cbssports.com when he was killed by a hit-and-run driver in Tempe. (Pictured below, from left, Republic beat writer Kent Somers, Fitzgerald, Campbell, and XTRA 910′s Mike Jurecki).

Vets see Peterson’s potential around corner

So rookie Patrick Peterson is a Pro Bowler in his first year. It’s as a return man, however, and has dynamic as he has been in that facet of the game, the Cardinals need him to be dynamic as a cornerback. He seems headed there, and, at least according to the Pro Bowler who plays beside him every day and the the Pro Bowler who must battle him in practice daily, they think he’ll be a Pro Bowler on defense at some point too.

“I’m very proud of Patrick,” safety Adrian Wilson said. “He’s a professional at a very young age. He’s eager to listen, he’s eager to learn. For a veteran like me, to have a young guy like that, it’s not only a testament to what the organization saw in him by drafting him that high, but also with him wanting to get better every day and not accept anything other than that. He practices hard, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. He’s out there like it’s game day. To see a young guy do that, I’m proud of him.

“During the course of the year, with everything that came with that draft status, I know he does well in special teams but he’s a pretty good corner too.”

Larry Fitzgerald said Peterson was “right there” as pushing for Pro Bowl talent. Fitz said he talked to Bengals rookie receiver A.J. Green after last weekend’s game and Green told him that Peterson was “by far” the best cornerback he had faced.

“I feel the same way when I compete against him,” Fitzgerald said. “There aren’t many guys around the league on Sundays that can match up with his physical tools. And his ball skills, his tackling, the only thing he needs is experience.”

Like Wilson, Fitzgerald is impressed with Peterson’s maturity. Don’t forget, Peterson doesn’t turn 22 until next July.

“The one thing about Patrick, since the day I met him, is the guy has the disposition of a 10-year vet,” Fitzgerald said. “He has a quiet confidence about him and a maturity that you’d expect from a guy in the league a lot longer. I am pretty sure he will go (to the Pro Bowl) and go above and beyond.

“I remember at that draft, and everyone was talking Von Miller-this and Von Miller-that, and he’s a fantastic player and Pro Bowler. But for Patrick this year, I think he’s been the best in the league (as a rookie) except for Cam Newton.”

Bengals aftermath

It’s Christmas Eve, 30,000 feet above Missouri according to the “moving map” in the seatback in front of me, and at this point, it’s tough to not think more about my kids and the next 24 hours than the Cardinals.

That’s what happens when the finish doesn’t go the Cards’ way – a Cardiac Cards game in reverse. All the components were there for another amazing rally. I have no doubt, frankly, that had Early Doucet caught that ball, or the Cards had been able to find their way to a tying score, that they would have won in overtime. But that didn’t happen, and after so many of the late breaks that went their way over the past month, the tangling of feet just seemed bound to happen. The law of averages and all that.

The Cardinals are done, and now the game against the Seahawks next week is about the chance to finish .500 – still a feat given the start to the season – and taking second place in the NFC West.

First, a shorter (I say that as I start out) aftermath, since Christmas is on the mind:

– John Skelton, the ultimate Jekyll-and-Hyde. How does the guy who did what he did in the first three quarters do what he did in the final quarter? The pressure is off? A switch is flipped? Through three quarters, his passing rating was 18.0. Forced interceptions, overthrows, inaccurate throws.

In the fourth quarter, his passing rating was 112.8. What you saw is the reason you can’t go all-in with him. Not yet, anyway. The defense works without a net when Skelton plays like that, and he has yet to not play like that, really. I’m sure he’d love to know why too, but he doesn’t. I’ve never seen such a dramatic difference in how a guy plays. Make no mistake – the pass to Doucet was a good read and good throw. He would have had another TD pass. It’s why he’s so hard to bench. Because that streak always seems to come.

– Calais Campbell set a career-high with his eighth sack, and forced that last fumble that looked like it would get the Cards the tie.

– Safety Kerry Rhodes was back as a playmaker too – he recovered both Bengals fumbles.

– Safety Adrian Wilson forced a fumble, but the big play was his roughing the passer call that seemed iffy. Some have said the right replay showed helmet-to-helmet. I just didn’t see it, and it stole a big play from the Cards.

– A.J. Jefferson was the kickoff returner, so that LaRod Stephens-Howling – dealing with a sore hamstring – could concentrate on his offensive packages. Jefferson struggled, averaging just 17.3 yards a return.

– The Cardinals finally put Deuce Lutui in on offense. He took over at right guard in the second half. No way to know how he graded out yet, but since Lutui will be a free agent after the season, it’s interesting. You wonder if there will be some evaluating going on.

– On the play before Doucet’s miss, the Cards ran a screen to Larry Fitzgerald. It was set up well – but tight end Todd Heap missed a block, and that was the man who made the tackle. It only gained two yards, and probably should have gained more. Not that it mattered much, since the Cards needed to convert the Doucet pass, but worth noting.

– The Cardinals have played an NFL-high 12 games decided by seven points or less. That they added to the total Saturday is simply crazy.

– It was a weary Ken Whisenhunt who talked after the game. There was no anger. He mentioned the frustration many times, and he was asked if that was partly because he thought the Cards were past playing like that. A tired smile crossed his face. “I never thought we were past playing like that,” he said.

He knew his team didn’t play well enough. But he wasn’t in the mood to complain much. Maybe it was the Christmas spirit.

“It’s not any fun when it starts like that,” Whisenhunt said. “But I do have a lot of respect for our players for the way they didn’t quit. It didn’t look good there in the fourth quarter. We fought all the way back. We had chances to make plays, we just didn’t get it done. It’s disappointing from that aspect, especially as hard as we fought this year to get back to where we were.”

OK, big props to anyone actually reading this tonight. I’m taking tomorrow off, if everyone doesn’t mind. Merry Christmas.

Friday before the Browns

With safety Adrian Wilson playing so well, I thought it was appropriate to do a story on him this week, and he’s clearly becoming a story everywhere. Friday, he popped up on Jim Rome’s radio show, and he was A-Dub-honest. When it came to his self-assessment of his play during the first month of the season, “I was terrible. I was horrible. I didn’t like seeing myself like that on tape.”

More revealing was his comment about that play when it came to being a leader on the defense. “It hurt me emotionally the way that I was playing,” Wilson said. “I knew I wasn’t that type of player, and I knew what I was doing in games early on in the year, that wasn’t me. It hurt me inside, and I wanted to show my teammates I was still that guy, that guy they could depend on, still that playmaker. That fueled me as the season went on.”

He admitted coming back from the right biceps injury was mentally difficult, a strain that made it harder when he was already learning the defense. Wilson said he wasn’t doing a lot of interviews this season because he wanted the young players, guys like linebacker Daryl Washington and linebacker Sam Acho, to get the spotlight.

Besides, for the team, the most important thing is Wilson’s play on the field, which has been 180 degrees from “terrible.”

“Shoot, he didn’t talk to me the first two years I was here,” safety Hamza Abdullah said with a grin (and folks, that was a joke). “Between the white lines, he doesn’t care. You could be his Auntie, his next door neighbor, the guy who needs help crossing the street, if you are between the lines and wearing a different colored helmet, he is going to hit you hard, not care, push you down after the play. You want a guy like that on your team. He keeps it clean, but he’ll make you feel it at the end of the day.”

Clearly the Cardinals’ defense has played better because there are a bunch of players who understand the scheme better. But it’s not a coincidence Wilson has found a groove at the same time.

“I feel I am the emotional leader for this team,” Wilson said. “I may not say a lot during the week or do a lot of interviews but come game day being that emotional guy, being a guy who is out front, I think that’s important for the team defensively.”

On to Browns’ weekend:

– The streaking Cards’ defense runs into an offense that was struggling anyway and now must turn to backup quarterback Seneca Wallace. Good news, right? Well, perhaps the better news is the message – whomever is giving it, whether it is coach Ken Whisenhunt or defensive coordinator Ray Horton or  players leaders – that the only thing that matters is the next game and not whatever success the unit is having. No one is paying attention to the growing compliments.

“One thing I know, a pat on the back is six inches from a slap in the face,” defensive tackle Darnell Dockett said. “I treat that the same. We just want to do it for each other.”

– If the Cardinals win, Whisenhunt notches his 43^rd win, most in franchise history for a head coach (and yes, postseason is included).

– If the Cards win, that’s a four-game winning streak, something they haven’t done since 1999.

– Is it feast or famine for this team? The Cards do have five offensive touchdowns of more than 50 yards this season (and an NFL-leading nine, thanks to Patrick Peterson’s four punt-return scores). Big plays have become the norm.

– Beanie Wells needs 57 yards rushing to reach 1,000 for the season. You know he’d like to do it against the Browns, the team that plays about a half-hour from his Akron home – and one for he once dreamt about playing.

– Starting cornerback/nickel safety Richard Marshall has turned into a valuable piece for Horton. He’s also a guy who signed only a one-year contract as a free agent before the season (which made sense, given the high hopes with Peterson, the injured Greg Toler and A.J. Jefferson by the time they got to 2012). He would seem to be a guy the Cards want to keep around. Marshall sounded like a veteran when asked about his future in Arizona.

“I like it here,” Marshall said. “My family likes it here, it’s a great place to play. Not too far from home. We will see what happens at the end of the year. The only thing I am thinking about is these last three games.”

– Wilson was fined $7,500 for roughing the passer after he grabbed 49ers quarterback Alex Smith’s facemask as he went flying by during a play last week. Niners linebacker Larry Grant was fined $15,000 for hitting Cards QB John Skelton below the knees, although reports from San Francisco are that Grant is appealing the fine because he said he hit Skelton in the thigh area.

– There has been only one team Larry Fitzgerald has not played against in his career – the Cleveland Browns. He missed the 2007 meeting because of a groin injury.

– Speaking of Fitz, he was asked about how to deal with the offensive slow starts: “I just keep hoping our defense can keep playing well in the first half so our engine can get going in the second,” he deadpanned. “Naw, we have to play better. The first half, it’s unacceptable for us to start that slow.”

John Skelton, Sunday’s probable starter at quarterback with Kevin Kolb’s concussion issues, has a 22.4 passer rating in the first quarter this season (and 100.8 in the fourth quarter).

Fitz may have been talking tongue-in-cheek, but the way the defense is playing, his idea just might work.

Niners aftermath

The Cards hang a 21-19 loss on the 49ers Sunday, as satisfying of a victory as they have had all season – that’s 10 games decided by seven points or less, still tied with the Denver Tebows for most in the league, and the Cards have won six of them – but you could tell that hint of frustration from wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald afterward.

OK, maybe it was more than a hint.

“It kind of pisses you off a little bit because you know the team we were capable of being,” Fitzgerald said, noting the Cards’ rally from that six-game losing streak that put them in a hole it’s going to be hard from which to emerge. “The way we’re playing now and the way we were playing earlier during the six-game skid just really makes you upset.

“If we had won just two or three of those games, we would possibly be fighting for the division.”

That’s true, but I am guessing the Rams – twice – and Eagles and Cowboys and Niners are all lamenting the same thing when it comes to the Cards. Bottom line: The Cards could have packed it in after falling to 1-6. They didn’t. “How many times during those first weeks did we say that we were going to stay the course?” coach Ken Whisenhunt noted (and I know that frustrated some fans to no end). So here we are.

“That’s one thing I’ll say about these Cardinals: There is no quit,” tackle Jeremy Bridges said.

– I’m sticking to my theme of waiting until Cards get to .500 before talking postseason possibility.

– But considering the Giants/Lions/Falcons all could have lost today and won, ouch. Thank goodness for the Tebows taking out the Bears. Somehow.

– Was it me or did it look like linebackers Sam Acho and Clark Haggans chased 49ers quarterback Alex Smith for five minutes on that final fourth-and-1 play? “Last week coach took me out for a little bit, and it was like, ‘We need you to rush the passer and you’re getting tired,’ ” Acho said. “All that was going through my head was, ‘You can’t be tired – it’s the last play.’ Clark and I were just running in circles trying to make something happen.”

– The defense can’t get enough praise for Sunday. I mean, the 49ers had the ball for more than 22 minutes in the first half – and had just four field goals and a 12-7 lead. “Could’ve gotten ugly, right?” cornerback Patrick Peterson said with a grin. Uh, yes.

– Five more sacks, by five different players. For a second straight week. The list this week: Peterson (his first NFL sack), Daryl Washington, Nick Eason, Darnell Dockett and Calais Campbell.

– Campbell was huge again Sunday. He is playing so, so well.

– No, Adrian Wilson didn’t hang on to the two passes that looked like they should have been intercepted. But he played another excellent game Sunday and has found a groove in this defense. To paraphrase SI writer Jim Trotter, reports of Wilson’s demise were greatly exaggerated.

– How important is field position for the 49ers’ offense? San Fran started 10 drives on its side of the 50. They scored three points. Their other four scoring “drives” started on the Arizona 43, 4, 16 and 37.

– Didn’t we just say the Cards couldn’t afford to mess up the turnover battle? Cards had three turnovers. Niners didn’t turn it over. How do you explain it? (Well, it starts with a D.) San Fran scored just three points off those three turnovers.

– The Cards didn’t have three touchdown passes in a game all of 2010. They did it once previous this season, when John Skelton had three in Philly. But in that game, two went to Fitz, one to Early Doucet. Sunday was the first time the Cards had three different receivers catch TD passes since Fitz (2), Steve Breaston, Ben Patrick and Anthony Becht did it in Chicago Nov. 8, 2009.

– John Skelton was not good his last two starts. He ended up playing pretty well Sunday. We’ve said this before, but his resiliency is so impressive. It might be, even beyond his big arm, his best attribute. It won’t always translate into success, but he couldn’t have any success without it.

– Loved watching Bridges block a pair of Niner DBs — Chris Culliver and Dashon Goldson — by himself on Early Doucet’s big screen pass the play before Andre Roberts’ TD catch. Rex Hadnot had a great peelback block on linebacker Aldon Smith on the play too.

– Kevin Kolb took a knee to the back of the head by linebacker Ahmad Brooks as he was being sacked by Justin Smith. We’ll see what that means for Kolb this week.

– Punter Dave Zastudil is playing with a torn biceps in his arm. If things go like normal, that doesn’t have to cost him time, but it’s tough. Yet Zastudil averaged 46.6 yards a kick Sunday.

– Odd that Frank Gore, who had the 37-yard TD run, got only 10 rushes (for 72 yards). Niners coach Jim Harbaugh only said “No, not a reason” when asked if there was a reason Gore played less than normal. Cards won’t argue.

– The 49ers win the NFC West this season. But, given that, the Cards will take what they got Sunday. “I’ll tell you this,” Campbell said. “When the game was over and we came out on top, it felt like a Super Bowl win.”

One call for three Cards Pro Bowlers — including A-Dub

The guys at ProFootballFocus.com watch all the games every week and grade and break down all the players. So it makes sense they would have a big-picture view of those worthy for the Pro Bowl and today, site founder Neil Hornsby put together a list of who he feels should make the Pro Bowl thus far, based on the totality of the work.

The Cards may be 4-7, but Hornsby put three Cards on the NFC squad, all as starters: Patrick Peterson as a return man, Larry Fitzgerald as a wide receiver and, wait for it … Adrian Wilson at safety.

It’s been a quiet year for A-Dub since the regular season started, in more ways than one. He was playing with his biceps injury, and he had a big red-zone interception the second game against Washington. He, like the entire defense, took some time to find a comfort zone in Ray Horton’s new scheme, and the communications issues in the secondary — along with the oft-painful growing pains of cornerbacks Peterson and A.J. Jefferson — didn’t reflect well. With the team losing games too, Wilson has often been a ghost when the media is around too. It’s not hard to see he has been frustrated.

Clearly, though, Wilson has put together a solid season as it has progressed, and video analysis has shown it.

Hornsby didn’t analyze Wilson in the web story, so I asked him to do it for me. Wilson has had a “very consistent, very balanced all-round performance with underneath coverage being a strong suit,” Hornsby wrote in an e-mail. “Giving up less than 50% completions when thrown at and has a passer rating of 66.8 into his coverage. Areas to work on: Cutting back on penalties and getting better value than two hits and four pressures from his 46 blitzes.”

Wilson has 45 tackles this season, with five tackles for loss, the pick, three quarterback pressures and 10 pass deflections.

Hornsby also noted he really, really likes the play of defensive end Calais Campbell and linebacker Daryl Washington, and the only reason they aren’t on the list is because of the talent depth at the positions in the NFC.

By the way, here is Hornsby’s take on Fitz, whose catches are way down (51) but he already has 888 yards and six touchdowns with five games to go: “(Calvin) Johnson is an awesome specimen but surely the best receiver in football is Fitzgerald. With what he’s had thrown at him the last couple of years most players would have crumbled, but he’s done more to impress me in this period than he did when the great Kurt Warner was his teammate – and he was brilliant then.”

Friday before the Niners

I’ll be honest: I didn’t think the 49ers would do this. I didn’t think they could keep the same quarterback and win; I didn’t think they could bring in a brand-new coaching staff and win. I’m not sure just how they are, or how much it says about Jim Harbaugh (or what it says about Mike Singletary for that matter).

In some ways, it mirrors the Cardinals when Ken Whisenhunt came aboard. Obviously, the Cards didn’t start 8-1 in Whiz’s first season, but Whisenhunt, like Harbaugh, took essentially the same players Denny Green had and won with them.

Where the 49ers go will be interesting; they don’t have as good of a quarterback as the Cards had, but overall they have a better defense. And, given the way the last couple games have gone, I am very, very curious to see how the Cards match up.

As for other stuff to consider:

– I don’t know why I found the need to notice this, but Larry Fitzgerald made some unbelievable catches at practice Friday. One-handed, over the head, in traffic. A lot of them. No, it’s not surprising. No, it’s not out of the ordinary, unless we are talking about sheer volume. I know Fitz said the other day he didn’t necessarily feel he was in a zone in Philadelphia, but man, he sure looks like he’s there right now.

– If you haven’t had a chance to read my piece on linebacker Daryl Washington … well … why not? Regardless, it’s clear Washington has surged ahead as one of the key components of this defense. His speed makes a difference. Heck, so too does the speed of Sam Acho and O’Brien Schofield. I am sure there are still some bumpy times ahead for this D (although, if they can deal with the Niners’ running game, maybe not this weekend)  but given the flashes from the linebackers, from Calais Campbell, from Patrick Peterson and yes, even A.J. Jefferson, there is hope.

– As for an assessment of the defense by coordinator Ray Horton in the Philadelphia game: “The results obviously were an ‘A’ but getting there we were a ‘C,’ ” Horton said. “We left a lot of plays out there. Missed tackles dropped interceptions, called-back interceptions, penalties. We are a work in progress, but to hold such an explosive offense to half their production was a good start.”

– The Cardinals have dealt with a lot of bad field position the past two games, although “it seems like we have been fighting that quite a bit this year,” Whisenhunt said. The Cards’ average start in Philadelphia was Arizona’s own 18-yard line. Against the Rams, the Cards were trapped back far enough that QB John Skelton was swarmed twice for safeties. It speaks to the sputtering offense in part; while Skelton has led some great late drives, the Cards did have six drives that ended in three plays or less. Now comes a game against a team with great special teams. Punter Andy Lee has been awesome (averaging better than 50 yards a punt).

– I think the Levi Brown conversation has been hashed out enough that everyone knows it by heart. But the other side of that is the other side of the line. If Brown doesn’t return next year, does right tackle Brandon Keith? He hasn’t played consistently, but Whisenhunt said he has played better and believe if Keith can just get healthy, the Cards might have something.

The problem is he isn’t healthy and has rarely been healthy. He tore his meniscus in Week One of 2010 and played with it up until his hamstring gave out midway through the season, ending his season. His knee hasn’t totally rallied; he has had to come out a few times because of knee issues; Keith said if he tweaks it the wrong way “it feels like the whole leg is on fire.”

“It is frustrating, because you don’t like to come out,” Keith said. “People on the outside want to know, ‘Why is he out?’ People are saying, ‘If he is hurt, why is he playing?’ I’m actually playing better, as crazy as that sounds. The messed up part you just hate it. (if I get hit), I’m not going to do anyone any good on one leg.”

– He was tamed last week, but the accolades continue for Peterson nationally. This, from Bill Barnwell of Grantland.com, noting Peterson’s three punt returns for touchdowns: “There are only 33 players in NFL history who have run back more than three punts for touchdowns during their entire career. Peterson’s tied for 34th on the all-time list after nine games. That’s just freakish.”

Adds Barnwell, “(Devin) Hester is having a monster season and is building a Hall of Fame résumé as a return man, but if we were looking for someone to compete with him over the next few years, we found that man in Patrick Peterson.”

– The 49ers are going to be ready for Beanie Wells. So Skelton better be ready for the Niners. He has to be more efficient early, complete more passes.

– Will we see Adrian Wilson vs. Vernon Davis? That used to be a heavyweight battle. I’m not sure it will be a matchup anymore, although the Cards have to watch the Niners’ tight ends. This is Harbaugh football, after all.

– Any chance the Niners overlook the Cards, since they have to play Baltimore Thanksgiving night, in a Harbaugh v Harbaugh game?

Probably not.