49ers Come To Phoenix for NFC West Battle
Carson Palmer has proven his value and worth towards the large contract he signed last year for the Cardinals. The former Trojan looks to take his ninth consecutive victory under center for the team as they look to continue their early season start against division rival San Francisco. The 49ers are looking like a team in transition, but that doesn’t mean that they aren’t capable of taking home a win every once in a while. The Cardinals will look to avoid giving the visiting team that pleasure.
Can Palmer continue his hot streak.
Last week the Cardinals took home the NFC offensive player of the week with the game played by Larry Fitzgerald, but if not for Palmer it is likely Fitzgerald wouldn’t have even come close to his outrageous performance. Again, Palmer has looked like a championship caliber quarterback through the first two weeks of the season and shows no signs of rust or uneasiness in the pocket for the team as he returns from ACL surgery. He has a tendency of finding the soft spot in the pocket and avoiding pressure so far this season as he has yet to be brought down for a sack through two games. The San Francisco defense however has a tendency to rebound after bad games. Last week the Pittsburgh Steelers dismantled the 49ers and gashed them down the field for huge plays on the arm of Ben Roethlisberger. Jim Tomsula has more than likely fixed the coverages of his defense and will look to force Palmer to scanning the field longer than he’d like and allow his front seven to provide the pressure needed on the Heisman trophy winner.
Returning names for the big uglies.
The offensive line doesn’t get a lot of credit in the NFL from mainstream fans. A true football lover however knows that the offensive line is the most important grouping of players that you must put together to make a team a contender. This week the Cardinals will be getting back Mike Iupati and Bobby Massie for their unit and it should provide an immediate increase to the running game. Iupati went to three Pro Bowls with the 49ers before coming to the Cardinals in free agency and is considered one of the better run blocking guards in the league when at his best. Massie was scheduled to start at tackle for the Cards but ended up suspended due to a drug test for the last two games. With Andre Ellington still out it will be up to Chris Johnson and David Johnson to push the ball through the pile and gain the tough yards. Now with Iupati and Massie back that should help create more holes so that the three yards and a cloud of dust runs that have been commonplace for the team could turn into home run shots.
Kaepernick may need to be focus of offense.
Colin Kaepernick performed well in a loss to the Steelers on the road last week and will look to try and continue in this matchup where he left off. All likelihood says that he may have to with the injuries to Reggie Bush and Carlos Hyde limiting the running backs to Mike Davis and rugby star Jarryd Hayne. Kaepernick’s skill set provides the Cardinals with a new challenge defensively as they have yet to face a true scrambling quarterback this year. The legs of the former Nevada star have provided headaches for defensive coaches for years now and the control he has on the ball while throwing on the run also creates issues of over pursuit and leaving gaps in the zones. The Cardinals may be forced to run many of their blitzes up the middle to force Kaepernick to one side of the field and therefore limiting his options to throw to. One bad decision by the San Francisco quarterback and it could be turnover time for the Cards defense.
The 49ers have split the last four meetings in Arizona, and the Cardinals are riding high with two straight blow out wins. It would appear that the first quarter of the NFL season is going just the way head coach Bruce Arians and his staff were hoping it would.
Final score: Cardinals 28 – 49ers 13
Catch the game on Fox at 4:05 PM ET.