Sunday’s 38-7 win by the 49ers over the Cardinals didn’t get much coverage on a day filled with games that actually mattered, but it was undoubtedly one of the biggest days in Jim Tomsula’s life. Tomsula earned the win in his NFL head coaching debut and, with a new coach coming in, guaranteed himself a spot at the top of the league’s winning percentage list. He’s alongside such luminaries as Fred Bruney and Ray Prochaska on that list, one of the few coaching lists that rewards brief tenures. He even got a Gatorade bath at the end of the game. Not a bad day for a guy who was a defensive line coach a week ago.
If he ever does get into the mix for another head coaching job, Tomsula will be helped by the fact that his 49ers team came to play on Sunday. They showed a lot more fight than they showed for Singletary over most of the first 15 games and got rewarded with a blowout victory that leaves some good taste in their mouths as they await the arrival of a new regime. Alex Smith threw two touchdowns, Brian Westbrook ran for two scores and the defense predictably handled the two-headed Arizona quarterbacking monster of John Skelton and Richard Bartel with little problem.
Since we’re spotlighting proud days under dire circumstances, let’s take a moment to recognize Larry Fitzgerald. The Cardinals wide receiver certainly deserves better than Derek Anderson, Max Hall, Skelton and Bartel as his quarterbacks, but he still managed to pick up 90 catches and 1,137 receiving yards this season. That makes four straight years with 90 or more catches and more than 1,000 yards, which is only slightly less impressive than the fact that Fitzgerald went the whole season without attacking anyone on the sideline. Given the volatile nature of NFL wideouts, that’s pretty remarkable.
Hopefully, the Cardinals will do something to make sure he doesn’t finally reach his breaking point in 2011.
Posted by Josh Alper on January 3, 2011
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