We’ve been blessed with some pretty great Thursday Night Football games to start the season, but that all ends tonight. The Arizona Cardinals (1-3) travel to Northern California to take on the San Francisco 49ers (1-3) in a game without Carson Palmer and where the most interesting storyline takes place before kick off with the national anthem.
Still, it’s football and, by God, we’ll wish this game was on when March hits. Let’s take a look at it.
The Game: Arizona at San Francisco (+3.5)
The History
The real rivalry between these two teams only goes back to 2002. Before that the Cardinals were in the NFC East for some reason, with the St. Louis Rams and San Francisco 49ers the only teams based west of the Mississippi in the NFC West. Realignment fixed that and the teams have played each other twice a season ever since.
The 49ers lead the all-time series 29-20, but have only beaten Arizona once in the last three seasons. It was a 20-17 in in Santa Clara in Dec. 2014, with the Cardinals forced to play Ryan Lindley at quarterback due to injuries to Carson Palmer and Drew Stanton. It was the final game for Jim Harbaugh as the 49ers’ head coach and probably the last good performance at quarterback from Colin Kaepernick. Kaep finished 15-of-26 passing for 204 yards and two touchdowns with no picks for a 108.5 QB rating. He added seven rushes for 63 yards on the ground.
The two teams didn’t play from 1994-1999 and the 49ers probably wished that streak had gone longer. In their 1999 game, Steve Young was knocked out of the game with a concussion and never played football again. The 49ers won the game 24-10, but lost a Hall of Fame quarterback for good.
All the good streaks in the series belong to the 49ers. Twice San Francisco has won five consecutive games over the Cardinals. The first streak came during the Joe Montana – Bill Walsh era, with the 49ers beating the then St. Louis Cardinals from Sept. 1980 to Oct. 1987. The second streak came in the Steve Young – George Siefert era from Oct. 1993 to Dec. 2002. Arizona’s longest streak was four in a row from Dec. 2004 to Dec. 2006.
The Cardinals on Offense
This game is all about the performance of back up quarterback Drew Stanton. Palmer has already been ruled out and is still in the concussion protocol. Stanton is a high-end back up and had the Cards rolling back in 2014 before going down with an injury of his own. Stanton should have all the Cardinals’ weapons to work with, especially Larry Fitzgerald who has made a career of eating the 49ers’ lunches out of the break room fridge.
The 49ers on Offense
For an “offensive minded coach,” Chip Kelly sure has fielded some shitty offenses over the last two seasons. San Francisco is currently ranked No. 28 in the league in total yards. Quarterback Blaine Gabbert hasn’t been horrible, but he hasn’t put up starters numbers by any stretch. He’s completing 58 percent of his passes for 738 yards, four touchdowns and four interceptions while adding 102 yards and a touchdown on the ground. Jeremy Kerley and Vance McDonald are both banged up, but should play. Carlos Hyde is really the only significant weapon the 49ers have and the dude is getting it done, even though the defense is keyed on him every game. He’s averaging 4.1 yards per carry, gained 299 yards on the ground and scored five touchdowns, already a career high.
The Cardinals on Defense
The Cardinals have been solid on defense this season, giving up just 20 points a game, but they were supposed to be an elite unit and they certainly haven’t played that way. Patrick Peterson remains the best cornerback in the league, as is safety/utilty man Tyrann Mathieu. But up front the Cardinals have gotten old fast and first-round pick Robert Nkemdiche still has suited up for a game in 2016. If he plays tonight, it’ll be his first action of the season and they need him.
The 49ers on Defense
San Francisco’s defensive unit is in complete shambles coming into this game. The best player on their team, linebacker NaVorro Bowman is out for the year with a torn Achilles and their first-round pick, defensive end DeForest Buckner, is listed as out with a foot injury he suffered against the Cowboys last Sunday. With back ups and guys that should be back ups playing across the defense, the 49ers should have match up problems all night.
The Coaches
Bruce Arians vs. Chip Kelly is the punchline to a joke. Arians’ only real problem is being pig-headed and short-sighted. He counts on veterans too much and doesn’t build enough talented youth into his football team. Going to bat with Carson Palmer as your quarterback and not drafting a legit guy for the future for the last four seasons shows that. Kelly, on the other hand, does not run an NFL offense and is continually exposed as a fraud. The advantage is Arians the whole way.
The Pick
I think Drew Stanton might be in a better position to lead this Cardinals team this year than Carson Palmer. I don’t see any way the 49ers slow Arizona’s offense down. If there’s a week to get right on defense for the Cards, facing off against Blaine Gabbert might do the trick. Cards 24, 49ers 16
Last week
Straight up: 8-7
Against the spread: 6-9
Season
Straight up: 32-31
Against the spread: 24-39
