The Arizona Cardinals head west to face the division rival San Francisco 49ers on Sunday afternoon
Forget that FOX has sent Dick Stockton and Mark Schlereth to call the Arizona Cardinals game for the fourth consecutive week. Forget the Cardinals are 0-4.
This week they have Josh Rosen at quarterback for his first road start of his career. He showed some real poise last week in the loss to the Seattle Seahawks.
For most Cardinals fans, and now for national media, there is some real hope for the team. Rosen has shown a lot to all of them. Two Fox personalities called on the Cardinals to win on Sunday, Charissa Thompson and Colin Cowherd.
He looks good under pressure. However now he gets to do it on the road in the division. Sure, the 49ers are banged up but the Cardinals still don’t have a win. Oh, and the 49ers are still a force to be reckoned with.
The 49ers will start C.J. Beathard at quarterback with Jimmy Garoppolo out for the season. They also have a banged up backfield with Matt Brieda questionable for Sunday’s game. He is likely to play however.
As for the Cardinals, they are healthy on the offensive side of the ball for the most part, save for receiver Larry Fitzgerald. He has a banged up back and hamstring. He is also expected to play though.
Cardinals running back David Johnson started to get going last week with 22 carries for 71-yards. Many of those yards were very hard to come by though. The offensive line is going to need to do work to break Johnson free against the 49ers Sunday afternoon.
The play calling has been suspect each of the first four weeks. It did open up a bit last week against the Seahawks, but still was considered very conservative at times.
Conservative can not be part of the plan this week despite being on the road. The Cardinals need to start playing to win, not playing not to lose.
It starts this week I believe. Rosen will lead the Cardinals to multiple touchdowns. The defense, though a bit banged up themselves, could have fun with the 49ers offense. Cardinals will pull this one out 24-20.