Cards’ 2 losses to 49ers last season were costly

Eric Green called it a bugaboo.

The 2007 season may have ended at 8-8, but the Cardinals still missed the playoffs, and those two losses to San Francisco still ring too loud and clear.

Sure, there were others that hurt (Carolina, Baltimore, New Orleans) but the Cardinals were responsible for 40 percent (2 of 5) of the 49ers’ win total last season.

Green theorized it was payback for the Cardinals’ sweep of San Francisco in 2006 and 2005.

“I remember watching them before and they weren’t playing that well, and then as soon as it came to us they were a whole different team,” Green said. “We beat them twice the year before. In the back of their minds that’s always going to be there.”

This series (19-14 all-time in favor of San Francisco) was amped up in 2002 when the Cardinals joined the NFC West, and has seen its share of twists now that they play each other twice per season.

This is the third consecutive season opener between the two, and the teams will also play in November on “Monday Night Football.” It’s also the 20th time in 22 seasons in Arizona the Cardinals open a season on the road.

The bugaboos, however, go back further.

The Cardinals led the winless 49ers by 16 points with five minutes to play on Oct. 10, 2004, and players were already celebrating on the sidelines.

That’s when former Cardinal Tim Rattay (417 yards passing) drove the 49ers to two touchdowns and a pair of two-point conversions to force overtime, then won it on a Todd Peterson field goal.

Two months later, the 49ers won their second and final game of the season.

Also against the Cardinals.

Also in overtime.

Also a 31-28 margin, this time after the 49ers blew a 25-point lead. (They still fired then-coach Dennis Erickson at season’s end).

The Cardinals had no trouble in 2005 or 2006, while San Francisco was a shell of the Joe Montana and Steve Young-led teams, but a rough day offensively from the Cardinals allowed the 49ers to win a close game in San Francisco to open 2007.

That was followed by eight consecutive losses until they beat the Cardinals again in November, again in overtime.

“I know Arizona felt they probably had every right to win but they didn’t, and so would we if we had lost,” 49ers coach Mike Nolan said.

The Cardinals had that so-close feeling several times last season, and they know how much of a difference two of those games that got away could have meant.

For a 49ers franchise that is 37-70 since the Cardinals joined the NFC West in 2002, at least one opponent is still looking up to them.

“Ain’t no excuses,” Cardinals defensive lineman Darnell Dockett said. “They beat us. They were the better team than us, and to me they still are the better team than us until we prove we’re better, point blank.

“We can say we went 8-8 and they didn’t win eight games, but it doesn’t matter. Two of theirs came against us, so for us to judge them would be kind of a slap in their face. Right now they’re a better team than us.

“How are we going to react to that? We’ll find out on Sunday.”

Cardinals at 49ers
When: 1:15 p.m. Sunday
Where: Candlestick Park,
San Francisco
TV/radio: Channel 10/(KTAR
92.3 FM)