Breaking down the Arizona Cardinals final eight games

San Francisco 49ers

The San Francisco 49ers, like the Eagles, have been hit hard at injury and they may find themselves without quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, tight end George Kittle, and a plethora of major contributors come week sixteen. This is definitely a different 49ers team the Cardinals will face in the home finale than who they upset back in September, especially if the names mentioned above can’t go.

But this is also a different Arizona Cardinals team that took the field and beat the 49ers in September. Yeah, they’re banged up themselves. But the Cardinals offense has evolved into the explosive unit we thought we were getting in 2020.

In this game, look for the Cardinals offense to overwhelm a Niners team comprising of patchwork units featuring key backups and low-end starters. But, the Cards should also view this one as a trap game if they’re in playoff contention come late-December and the Niners are looking to play spoiler.

Like the Giants game a few slides ago, this is a contest where the Cards must jump ahead and refuse to let the lead slip. No intra-divisional game is an easy outing. But the Cardinals have the talent and the stability on offense to take control early.

They will face the Los Angeles Rams the following week in the season finale and it’s highly likely the two will head into the contest with an identical record. That said, the Cardinals can make a statement in the week leading up to the finale.