The Arizona Cardinals (3–6) are limping into their Week 11 matchup at home against the San Francisco 49ers (6–4), as their wide-receiver depth has completely diminished ahead of the week.
Marvin Harrison Jr. underwent an appendectomy, while Zay Jones (Achilles) and Simi Fehoko (arm) were both placed on injured reserve.
Michael Wilson will serve as the No. 1 wide receiver on offense, followed by second-year Xavier Weaver and practice-squad promotion Andre Baccellia. The team still has its receiving leader in Trey McBride, and that’s about all. The game ahead will tell us a lot about Jacoby Brissett as a quarterback if he is somehow able to get the passing game going.
With the passing game battered and bruised, Arizona will need to rely on the rushing attack in order to compete this weekend. Emari Demercado is now fully healthy and will get most of the work, while Bam Knight will serve as a serviceable No. 2.
While he won’t see a ton of action, it is noteworthy that the Cardinals promoted former Jets running back Michael Carter off their practice squad, with the plan for him to suit up this weekend.
San Francisco ranks in the middle of the pack when it comes to defending the run, allowing 110.6 rushing yards per game. It will be much easier to establish the run this week as opposed to last week against the Seattle Seahawks.
Getting the run game going is vital if the Cardinals want any chance of hanging in there with a team as talented as the 49ers. The passing attack is far too banged up to get going consistently, and offensive coordinator Drew Petzing will need to rely on more than one element to compete.
As much of a challenge as it will be for Petzing, it will be just as big for Jacoby Brissett, and it will be interesting to see how he commands the offense against a solid San Francisco defense.