Kneejerk Knotes: Did that ... really just happen?

Mike Nolan is off the hook for ... well, the rest of the night, at least. The 49ers' defense is off the hook despite giving up nearly 500 yards through the air. What could be the cause of such unprecedented pardons? That's right. A win.

And not one of those 12-10, 200-yards-of-offense, Joe-Nedney-for-MVP type of wins. So many good things happened. Frank Gore looked like Frank Gore again (thanks, Ted Tollner, for telling our boy Hostler to give ol' Frank the ball a little more). Trent Dilfer looked like a real NFL quarterback. The offensive line did its job. Tully Banta-Cain even made a play! (OK, so Tully took just long enough to get to the QB that he was in the right place to recover a fumble caused by Ron Fields, who only got to the QB because a banged-up secondary did such a great job in coverage ... but still, it was nice to have a reason to yell "Tully!" at the top of my lungs and have it be for a good reason for once.)

My God, Donald Strickland even made a play ... and a game-saving one, at that. And Patrick Willis might have made the play of the game to keep whatever that guy's name was from scoring in overtime. And let's thank Neil Rackers for squeezing that one wide left ... who honestly thought the Niners still had a chance when he was lining that one up? And lest we forget, the MVP, Andy Lee (and the punt coverage). His punt and the ensuing penalty put the Cards against the wall, and the old statue Kurt Warner handed the 49ers their first win in what feels like a decade.

Imagine if they had lost. Just think about that. If Tim Rattay ... TIM RATTAY ... had thrown the game-winning touchdown pass on fourth down. If a fluke hail mary at the end of the half was the difference. If the rebuilt, retooled defense had allowed a miraculous touchdown drive at the end of regulation or committed an embarrassing mix-up to give the Cardinals a gift in overtime. And imagine that being their ninth consecutive loss and tying a franchise record for futility. I imagine there would be no one here to write this article if any of those things had happened.

But they didn't. The 49ers made just enough plays to win, and most of the time they looked like a real football team. So, for tonight at least, I don't want to hear anything about firing Mike Nolan or Jim Hostler or any other offensive coach. I don't want to hear about what players should stay and what players should go in the offseason. We don't know how long it might be before we see another win (though the Panthers next week look like a good start), so let's just enjoy the crap out of this one. Go look at the stats (the offensive ones, at least). Look at all those yards. It's kinda fun, isn't it?