It was embarrassing enough for the San Francisco 49ers special teams that they had a 46-yard field goal from Phil Dawson blocked during Sunday’s NFC West loss to the Arizona Cardinals. But it’s going to be far more embarrassing when the Niners watch the tape and realize Arizona blocked the kick with only nine men on the field.

Dawson is the 11th most-accurate field goal kicker in NFL history. San Fran figured he’d drill his 46-yard attempt and cut the Cardinals lead to three points early in the fourth quarter. But Tommy Kelly flew around the right edge and stifled Dawson’s attempt, keeping Arizona’s lead at six and serving as the catalyst for an impressive fourth quarter that gave the Cardinals a crucial 23-14 win. And Kelly did it all playing nine-on-11.

How can nine defenders get the best of 11 players on the special teams? To be honest, it didn’t really matter if it was 1-on-11, as long as 49ers tight end Derek Carrier (No. 46) opted to “block” Kelly with the little-used “two-hand touch” blocking technique.

This was one of many mistakes for the unraveling 49ers. An Arizona touchdown drive on the possession before was aided by two 15-yard personal foul calls. Dawson’s kick came after San Francisco had a third-and-goal from the 34-yard line, thanks to yet another unnecessary roughness call, this time on Anquan Boldin for headbutting a Cardinals player in between downs.