Cardinals still on surge that nearly beat 49ers in December

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Armchair quarterbacks were stunned by the 49ers’ collapse last week, and they weren’t alone.

A certified NFL expert — that would be Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians — said he couldn’t believe the 49ers squandered a 17-point second-quarter lead en route to a 28-20 loss to the Bears.

“It’s very hard for me to even imagine them giving a game away, because that’s not something one of Jimmy’s teams ever does,” Arians said, referring to 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh. “They’re as solid as anybody, and when they get a lead, you can pretty much forget about it.”

Actually, that’s not quite true. And Arians should know it.

Last year, the 49ers squandered a 17-point second-quarter lead in their regular-season finale against … the Cardinals. The Niners eventually won 23-20 on a last-second field goal, but Arizona’s rally was more evidence that it wasn’t the same franchise that went 18-30 from 2010 to 2012 and has been inept for much of its 94-year history.

The Cardinals, who opened 3-4 last year, will enter Sunday’s meeting against the visiting 49ers with nine wins in their past 11 games, a victory total topped only by the Panthers (10) in that span. After last season’s 10-6 non-playoff season, they’ve started 2-0 and lead the 49ers, Seahawks and Rams by one game in the NFC West.

With a win Sunday, they would improve to 3-0 for just the third time in the past 41 years and, more important, take a two-game division lead on a longtime bully. The 49ers have won nine of the past 10 meetings, with seven of those victories coming by at least 12 points.

“It can't be a rivalry,” Arians said to the Arizona media, “if you get your ass kicked all the time.”

The Cardinals might attempt to kick back without quarterback Carson Palmer, who had the third-most passing yards (407) against the 49ers since 2007 in last year’s regular-season finale.

Palmer didn’t start in Arizona’s 25-14 win over the Giants on Sunday because of a nerve issue in his shoulder. Arians has said Palmer can’t play until the nerve “wakes up,” which could be in two minutes or in two months.

If Palmer’s nerve doesn’t cooperate, the Cardinals will turn to Drew Stanton for the second straight game. On Sunday, Stanton, 30, made his fifth career start and threw his first regular-season pass since Dec. 19, 2010.

Stanton had a middling stat line — 14-of-29 for 167 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions — in a win that was keyed by four takeaways and a 71-yard fourth-quarter punt return for a touchdown by former 49ers wideout Ted Ginn.

“We respect him as a player,” Harbaugh said of Stanton. “I think he’s a fine football player.”

Still, he’s not Palmer, who led the Cardinals to an average of 442.5 yards in their two games against the 49ers last year. The 49ers allowed an average of 299 yards in their other 14 games and ranked fifth overall in that category.

The Cardinals, meanwhile, ranked sixth in yards allowed and first in rushing yards allowed, and they surrendered a franchise-low five rushing touchdowns. This season, they haven’t allowed a point in the fourth quarter, which has set the stage for final-quarter comebacks against the Chargers and Giants.

Their start suggests that last year’s finish was no fluke. They handed the Seahawks their first home loss since 2011 in December, and a win Sunday could send a strong message that the battle for NFC West supremacy isn’t a two-team tussle.

To win, however, the Cardinals will have to conquer a bully coming off a painful defeat.

“That loss, I’m sure, pissed them off pretty good,” Arians said. “And we’ll get their best effort.”

Eric Branch is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: ebranch@sfchronicle.com.