NFC WEST Welcome home: 49ers rout Cards

San Francisco countered miserable road play with strong work at home.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Terrell Owens began signing autographs for fans behind the San Francisco bench midway through the fourth quarter, and his coach didn't mind a bit.
Given the 49ers' wonderful performance against the Arizona Cardinals, Owens and his teammates had earned the right to do just about whatever they wanted.
Owens caught seven passes for 92 yards and two touchdowns on his 30th birthday, and Jeff Garcia threw four TD passes and ran for two more scores in a 50-14 win Sunday.
Home success
Kevan Barlow rushed for a career-best 154 yards and a touchdown as the 49ers (6-7) nursed their faint playoff hopes with their sixth win in seven games at 3Com Park. They led 21-0 early in the second quarter, 34-0 at halftime and 50-7 after the first play of the fourth.
So Dennis Erickson had no problems with the birthday boy's latest autograph session -- or nearly anything else his team did against the lifeless, lackadaisical Cardinals.
"I think it's a heck of a deal if you're ahead like that," Erickson said of Owens' latest Sharpie surprise. "If we were behind, I would have been worried."
Once again, San Francisco countered its miserable 0-6 road play with strong work at home. One week after a 44-6 loss to Baltimore, the 49ers had their highest-scoring game since 1994.
"We did almost everything we set out to do in this game, but now the challenge is to put together a streak of games," said safety Tony Parrish, who had an interception in his fifth straight game and a fumble recovery. "If we don't, this is just a blowout, and it doesn't matter."
Grounded
The Cardinals (3-10), who beat San Francisco in overtime six weeks ago, lost their fifth straight. Quarterback Jeff Blake, no stranger to terrible teams, said Arizona's struggles were "as bad as it has ever been for me."
Backup quarterback Josh McCown threw his first two career TD passes for Arizona, which has lost all seven of its 2003 road games and 12 straight overall. Coach Dave McGinnis' job security has never been more tenuous, and the Cardinals must finish the season against Carolina, Seattle and Minnesota -- all likely playoff teams.
"I don't know what their situation was, but they didn't come out with the same intensity that they had when we played them down there," 49ers linebacker Julian Peterson said.
Tai Streets and Cedrick Wilson also caught touchdown passes from Garcia, who started the rout with a short scoring run.
Garcia, 19-of-28 for 252 yards, was outstanding in his second game back from a three-game injury absence. He tied his career high for touchdown passes while accounting for six total TDs for the first time.
Barlow also excelled in his first NFL start, breaking a 46-yard TD run in the fourth quarter.
San Francisco needed just five plays to move 73 yards on its opening drive, scoring on Garcia's 3-yard scramble. Later in the quarter, Owens performed some sort of mime act in celebration of a 1-yard scoring catch.