No Kyler, no Hopkins, no problem for Cardinals in win over 49ers

Without some of their best players on Sunday, the Arizona Cardinals got a win over the San Francisco 49ers in convincing fashion.

Prior to kickoff on Sunday, the Arizona Cardinals announced that quarterback Kyler Murray and wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins would not be playing due to injury. Already without J.J. Watt on the defensive side of the ball, the optimism about Arizona getting a win over the San Francisco 49ers certainly took a hit when the Cardinals revealed the status of Murray and Hopkins.

However, someone must have forgot to tell the rest of the players on Arizona’s roster that defeating the 49ers this week was going to be more difficult because it certainly didn’t seem like it.

Despite the absence of Murray and several other top players, the Cardinals had almost no trouble leaving the field on Sunday with a victory as they defeated San Francisco by a final score of 31-17

Arizona Cardinals back on top of NFC after Week 9 win over San Francisco 49ers

After getting a victory over the 49ers on Sunday, Arizona improved their record this season to 8-1. With the Green Bay Packers also losing this weekend to the Kansas City Chiefs, the Cardinals have now moved back into sole possession of the No. 1 seed in the NFC.

The Los Angeles Rams also only have one loss this year like Arizona. But the Cardinals currently hold the tiebreaker over the Rams after defeating them back in Week 4.

So thanks to impressive efforts from Colt McCoy, James Conner, Markus Golden, and Budda Baker against San Francisco, Arizona was still able to continue their amazing 2021 season without the help of Murray and Hopkins.

Sunday’s win says a lot about the Cardinals’ depth and their coaching staff. These two elements have been as important to the team’s success this year as anything else.

Arizona will attempt to improve their record to 9-1 next week when they return to their home stadium for a matchup with the 4-5 Carolina Panthers.