49ers' Fred Warner keeps it real about glaring issue for NFC West champions

The San Francisco 49ers' defense had its worst performance since the bye week on Sunday. Thankfully it did not matter as San Francisco's astonishingly efficient offense once again delivered in a 45-29 blowout of the Arizona Cardinals.

San Francisco clinched a second successive NFC West title and maintained control of the race for the one seed behind four touchdown passes from Brock Purdy and a hat-trick of scores from Christian McCaffrey.

Cornerback Charvarius Ward added a defensive score on a second-quarter pick-six, but that touchdown did not mask a disappointing effort on that side of the ball, which saw the 49ers allow 436 net yards, with 234 of them coming on the ground.

It marked the first time the Niners have given up 200 yards rushing since Week 7 of 2017, head coach Kyle Shanahan's first season in charge.

The Cardinals' inability to slow down Purdy and Co. meant the 49ers' defensive drop-off did not prove costly but, for linebacker Fred Warner, a performance that featured 16 missed tackles, per Pro Football Focus, somewhat dampened the jubilation of retaining the division title ahead of a massive Christmas Day meeting with the Baltimore Ravens, the top seed in the AFC.

Asked about the 49ers' performance against the run in a game in which they were down both starting defensive tackles, Warner replied: "It's mixed emotions for sure. The number one thing is I don’t ever want to take away from a win first and foremost. Especially winning in the division in Week 15 in back-to-back years, that's big time and that’s the standard now. 

"I remember last year I got in front of the team and said 'We won the division. These don't come around often, let's make sure we cherish this'. I immediately regretted saying that because this is the standard. This is the standard now. 

"On the topic of standard, defensively we have a standard here and today we didn’t live up to that standard. We have to make sure we come back and go to work this week because we have a team coming in that loves to run the football, and they do it really well so we have to be better."