Alex Smith completed 18 of his 19 pass attempts in the San Francisco 49ers' 24-3 win at the Arizona Cardinals on Monday.

Michael Crabtree accounted for 61 of the 49ers' 107 yards after the catch, according to ESPN Stats & Information. That 107-yard figure was the second highest for a 49ers team over the past five seasons. 

The San Francisco 49ers improved to 6-2 with a 24-3 win at the Arizona Cardinals. The Cardinals are now 4-4 after winning their first four games of the season.

The 49ers had a +16.7 advantage in The Trench Counter, averaging 10.7 yards per pass while limiting the Cardinals to just seven rushing yards on nine attempts. The 49ers had a +6 edge in Total Rushes/Completions.

Alex Smith completed 18 of his 19 pass attempts for 232 yards and three touchdowns, including two to Michael Crabtree in the first half. Smith also connected with Randy Moss on a 47-yard touchdown in the middle of the third quarter to extend the San Francisco lead to 24-0.

Frank Gore rushed 16 times for 55 yards, while Kendall Hunter added 43 yards on 10 carries.

John Skelton went 35-for-52 for 290 yards, one interception and four sacks.

Alex Smith has thrown four interceptions with a 55.4 passer rating since injuring his middle finger on his throwing hand on Oct. 14.

Smith and the San Francisco 49ers had extra rest following their Thursday win against the Seahawks.

Jim Harbaugh is seeing a difference in Smith's throwing in practice.

“Yeah, it was a good week throwing the ball, very good this week,” Harbaugh said. “I think he feels very good physically. Confident going into the game and ready to roll.”

The pain in Frank Gore's bruised ribs has subsided significantly since a week ago Thursday, as the San Francisco 49ers have him listed as "probable" on the injury report.

“It’s lessened a lot,” Gore said. “A lot. I’m sleeping good.”

Gore was a full participant in practice this week.

The San Francisco 49ers took a big step in defending their NFC West title by holding serve and defeating the Seattle Seahawks by a final score 13-6.

The 49ers had a +4.1 advantage in The Trench Counter, averaging 0.9 more yards per play and recording five additional first downs. The 49ers had a +8 edge in Total Rushes/Completions.

Frank Gore carried 16 times for 131 yards, averaging 8.2 yards per carry.

Alex Smith was 14-for-23 for 140 yards, one touchdown and one interception.

Marshawn Lynch, similar to Gore for the 49ers, carried the Seahawks' offense with 19 carries for 103 yards.

Russell Wilson went 9-for-23 for 122 yards and an interception.

The two teams combined for just 23 completions, barely above the NFL average of 21.9 completions per team, per game.

The San Francisco 49ers have missed the play of Blake Costanzo on special teams.

Costanzo signed with the Chicago Bears in the offseason.

“We do miss Blake,” fullback Bruce Miller said. “He was a heck of a special teams player. He had a great feel for whatever team it was, he had a good feel for what was going on. He played for (special teams coach) Brad Seely for years.”

The 49ers rank 30th in punt coverage and 31st in kickoffs.

“There is no replacing a guy like Blake Costanzo, he's in a league of his own,” linebacker Larry Grant said. “Everybody misses Blake -- fans, players on this team, coaches. But unfortunately, he's not here. We got a find a way to get back as a team. We just got to play better; we got to move forward.”

The San Francisco Bay Area will compete against South Florida to host Super Bowl L, with the loser set to big against Houston for the following year.

The location of both Super Bowls will be decided in May.

The next three Super Bowls will be played in New Orleans, New Jersey and Glendale, Ariz. respectively.

California hasn't hosted a Super Bowl since San Diego in 2004.

The new Santa Clara stadium will hold 68,500 seats but can expand to 75,000 seats for special events. The NFL requires at least 70,000 seats for a Super Bowl.

The New York Giants went on the road to convincingly defeat the San Francisco 49ers by a final score of 26-3 in a rematch of last season's NFC Championship Game.

The Giants had a +11.3 advantage in The Trench Counter, picking off three Alex Smith passes (two by Antrel Rolle) while not turning the ball over on their end. New York also had a +12 edge in Total Rushes/Completions.

Ahmad Bradshaw rushed 27 times for 116 yards and a touchdown, while David Wilson added 35 yards on seven carries and a 66-yard kickoff return.

Eli Manning went 15-for-28 for 193 yards and a touchdown to Victor Cruz.

The 49ers offense looked good early, but eventually unraveled after a few uncharacteristic missed field goals by David Akers.

Alex Smith went 19-for-30 for 200 yards and the three picks.

San Francisco is working on becoming the host city for a Super Bowl, possibly as early as 2016 or 2017.

The game itself would be played in the 49ers' new $1.2 billion Santa Clara stadium, but San Francisco would be designated as the host city.

“San Francisco is our home,” 49ers CEO Jed York said in a phone interview Friday. “If and when we win a Super Bowl, the parade will be on Market Street.”

The 49ers are working with San Francisco mayor Ed Lee and several prominent civic leaders.

City Hall was caught off guard Nov. 8, 2008, when the 49ers abruptly announced that they were abandoning plans to build a new stadium at Candlestick Point.

New York Giants' offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride believes 49ers' defensive tackle Justin Smith gets away with penalties in his effort to create havoc on the line of scrimmage.

"Smith is a beast on the inside," Gilbride said to reporters on Thursday. "He's strong, he does as good a job of grabbing a hold of offensive linemen and allowing those twists to take place.

"He never gets called for it so he gets away with murder."

Jim Harbaugh took exception to Gilbride's comments about Smith.

“Kevin Gilbride’s outrageous, irrational statement regarding Justin Smith’s play is, first, an absurd analogy," said Harbaugh.

"Second, it is an incendiary comment targeting one of the truly exemplary players in this league. It's obvious that the Giants coaching staff's sole purpose is to use their high visibility to both criticize and influence officiating."