In this Week 17 regular season finale, the San Francisco 49ers and Arizona Cardinals play at Levi`s Stadium. Things don’t seem likely to get better any time soon for struggling San Francisco, as they have lost four of their last five. The game will air Sunday at 4:25 p.m. ET on FOX.
The 49ers and Cardinals last met in Week 3. San Francisco lost to Arizona 23-14. Crabtree had a great performance in that game, catching 10 receptions for 80 yards and one TD. Johnson had a big day as well, contributing 103 yards on nine receptions. Brown had a standout performance for Arizona, registering four catches for 52 yards and two TDs.
The Cardinals are a four-point underdog against the 49ers and the Over/Under (O/U) for the matchup is zero points. The 49ers enter the game with records of 7-8 Straight Up (SU) and 5-10 Against The Spread (ATS) this season. The 49ers are 1-4 SU over their last five matchups, but they’re worse ATS with a 0-5 record. The 49ers love to run the ball at their house. They rank fourth in the league with 31 rushing attempts per game at home. The 49ers will be looking to pad their defensive stats this week as they face off against Arizona’s offense, which averages a paltry 18.6 points per road game. The 49ers have the fifth-best pass defense in the NFL and give up just 216.6 yards per game through the air. As such, expect the Cardinals to have trouble throwing the ball. San Francisco usually gets off to a quick start in games, averaging 5.7 points in the first quarter. San Francisco’s special teams squad is a force to be reckoned with. They average 102.5 return yards per game, fifth in the NFL.
On the other side, the Cardinals have 11-4 SU and 10-5 ATS records this season. The Cardinals went 2-3 both SU and ATS over the last five games. Preparing for Arizona’s top-five scoring defense will give the 49ers headaches in the film room. So far this year, the Cardinals defense has only allowed opponents to score an average of 18.6 points. The Cardinals need to capitalize on takeaway opportunities against the turnover-inclined 49ers, who lead the league in turnovers with 2.3 per home game. The Cardinals rarely get penalized for fouls when they take the field. The team earns the fifth-fewest penalty yards in the league with 45 per game.
Predictions: SU Winner – SF, ATS Winner – SF, O/U – Under
Notes
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of San Francisco’s last 6 games.
San Francisco is 1-4 SU in its last 5 games.
San Francisco is 0-5 ATS in its last 5 games.
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of San Francisco’s last 6 games at home.
San Francisco is 1-8 ATS in its last 9 games at home.
The total has gone OVER in 4 of San Francisco’s last 6 games when playing Arizona.
San Francisco is 9-2 SU in its last 11 games when playing Arizona.
San Francisco is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing at home against Arizona.
Arizona is 7-0 SU when leading at the start of the fourth quarter this season. San Francisco is 5-2 SU when carrying a lead into the fourth quarter.
San Francisco is 5-2 SU in games where it wins the turnover battle this year, and only 1-4 SU in games where it loses the turnover battle.
Arizona has drawn an average of 8.0 penalties on opponents this season. San Francisco is only 2-5 SU when penalized at least 8 times in a game.
San Francisco is rated higher in the ground game on both sides of the ball. Its fifth-ranked rushing attack will face the eighth-ranked run defense of Arizona, while its seventh-ranked rush defense will look to contain the 30th-ranked run game of the Cardinals.
