While Alex Smith owns one of the league’s top quarterback ratings versus the blitz (behind only Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady with a 114.1), the Cardinals found a way to pressure the 49ers quarterback in their 21-19 win on Sunday.

With four weeks left in the season, there are still six division crowns and 10 total playoff spots up for grabs. Congratulations to the Packers and 49ers, who have clinched the NFC North and West, respectively. Meanwhile, here’s a look at what can happen this week.

As fantasy leagues head into the playoffs, Jason Smith looks at garbage points — those points that come late in lopsided games — and how useful they can be in the pursuit of a fantasy championship.

This time last week, there was plenty of buzz that the 49ers had a chance to be the first team in the NFL this season to clinch a playoff spot. A loss to the Ravens on Thanksgiving night delayed that inevitability, and it also opens the door for the defending Super Bowl champs to become the first team this season with an asterisk next to their names in the standings.

After tonight’s Thanksgiving feast, you’ll probably feel stuffed like a 300-pound defensive lineman. That’s actually quite appropriate, because if you tune in to watch Thursday Night Football on NFL Network, all of the best talent will be in the trenches for the 49ers and Ravens.

In the NFL, defensive coordinators wish stopping a team was as simple as stopping one guy.

Injuries to Michael Vick and Jeremy Maclin take things from bad to worse for the Eagles while Frank Gore downplays his knee injury.

This time of year, everyone is starting to line up their teams as ponies in an NFL derby race toward the Super Bowl. You have the usual steeds – the Packers, Steelers, and the Patriots – but a few interesting names are starting to enter the mix.

In the latest Three and out: Miles Austin could be gone awhile, Ryan Mathews could be back soon and Frank Gore is uncertain.

On Wednesday, we looked at how the division leaders stack up in terms of total defense. So today we decided to see how the eight first-place teams stack up when you take into account their overall ranking for both total offense and total defense. One thing to note is that there isn’t a great deal of balance among these teams. and only two of the division leaders — the Steelers and Texans — rank in the top 10 of both categories.

There was an interesting note this week in the NFL Media research packet pointing out that the top eight teams in the NFL in total defense all come from the AFC. Pretty crazy, considering it used to be that the NFC was known for rugged defense and the AFC was known for high-scoring aerial attacks.

The San Francisco 49ers are running away with the NFC West this season. Hard to believe we’d be saying that halfway through the season, but then again it’s not as if the rest of the division is mounting much of a challenge. Perhaps the biggest surprise, though, is the success of 49ers QB Alex Smith, who had been written off by many critics before the season ever began.

Some players — and even some coaches — bring a blue-collar, working-man approach to their football, and we like to honor that spirit with the Hardest Working Man award.

The near-fight between 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh and Lions coach Jim Schwartz was the talk of the NFL on Sunday, overshadowing San Francisco’s 25-19 victory over previously undefeated Detroit.

Tune into NFL Network’s “Around the League” Friday at 5 p.m. ET to hear San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Michael Crabtree talk about his team’s hot start and big game Sunday against the upstart Detroit Lions.