Arizona Cardinals vs San Francisco 49ers: Preview, Prediction
By Scott Allen
The Arizona Cardinals look for a sweep of their NFC West divisional opponent
This time it’s Carson Palmer vs. Colin Kapernick. We had the undercard in the last contest with Drew Stanton starting for the Arizona Cardinals and Blaine Gabbert starting for the San Francisco 49ers.
From a 49ers standpoint, you’ll likely not see much of anything different in the end result. Kaepernick can run with the ball but the Cardinals have learned how to contain that for the most part.
What: San Francisco 49ers at Arizona Cardinals
Where: University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale, AZ
When: 2:25 p.m. Arizona time (4:25 ET)
TV: Fox Sports (Chris Myers, Ronde Barber)
Radio: Arizona Sports 98.7 FM (Dave Pasch, Ron Wolfley)
The Cardinals (3-4-1) will be coming off their bye week. It was a much needed break after being whipped 33-20 by the Carolina Panthers.
The 49ers (1-7) are coming off a 41-23 loss to the New Orleans Saints last week. They have lost seven-consecutive games since opening the season with a 28-0 victory over the Los Angeles Rams.
In their last meeting, the Cardinals started slow, something they’ve unfortunately gotten used to this season. However after a late first-half touchdown, they went on to defeat the 49ers 33-21.
The Cardinals will be coming into the matchup still a little banged up. Safety Tyrann Mathieu has been officially ruled out for Sunday afternoon’s game. He is expected to miss 3-6 weeks but he was not officially ruled out until Friday.
For the 49ers they are just marching towards another high draft pick. There have been rumors of coach Chip Kelly leaving to go back to the college ranks. Nothing new there but he said he’s staying put.
This is clearly the “b’ game on the Fox schedule Sunday afternoon with the Dallas Cowboys and the Pittsburgh Steelers also playing on Fox at the same time. For now, that may work in the Cardinals favor.