Welcome back for another week of San Francisco 49ers football! The team looked lethargic coming out of its bye week, and lost 29-13 to the Seattle Seahawks. They return home in Week 12 to face the Arizona Cardinals, hoping to show greater signs of life. The game airs on FOX, and kicks off at 1:05 p.m. PT. The announcers will be Chris Myers and Ronde Barber, with Jennifer Hale on the sideline. This marks the third straight game with this crew.
The 49ers are stumbling along trying to figure things out. They are 3-7, and showing all sorts of inconsistency. The defense looked great against the Atlanta Falcons, shutting down Devonta Freeman, and doing the necessary work to contain the Falcons passing attack. Two weeks later coming out of a bye, the defense looked abysmal. Thomas Rawls put up historic numbers on the ground, and Russell Wilson found open receivers to get the comfortable victory. Poor tackling was arguably the biggest problem, but a generally lethargic look by the defense was odd.
On the other side of the ball, Blaine Gabbert has a nice little body of work through two starts. He has not been overwhelmingly great, but he has made plays and put the offense in a good position. He benefited from two dropped interceptions against the Seahawks, but he struggled as the offense tightened up in the red zone. Whether that was play-calling or Gabbert's decision-making, it cost the 49ers. Add in the punting decisions, and it was a rather annoying affair.
The 49ers face a Cardinals team that stomped them in Week 3. The 47-7 Cardinals victory was jump-started by Colin Kaepernick throwing a pair of pick-sixes in the first quarter. The offense never got on track, and the defense was playing from well behind the curve the rest of the game. I would expect fewer turnovers this game, but can the 49ers contain the Cardinals high flying attack? Chris Johnson is having a resurgent season, and one of his best games came against the 49ers. He rushed for 110 yards and two touchdowns, and had a 40-yard reception. If the 49ers can't contain him, it might not matter what they do against Carson Palmer and his receivers.
The 49ers enter this game as a ten-point underdog at most sportsbooks. Some have gone as high as 11.5-points, but either way, the 49ers are a double digit home underdog. They haven't been a double digit home underdog since 2006. Even with such a sizable line, public money is slanted toward the Cardinals. I decided to stay away from this game entirely in my Week 12 SuperContest picks. I expect the Cardinals to win handily, but they have struggled enough traveling to face the 49ers that anything is possible, I suppose.
Nuts and bolts
Location: Levi's Stadium, Santa Clara, CA
Game time: Sunday, November 29, 1:05 p.m. PT
TV channel: FOX
Online streaming: NFL Game Pass on replay
49ers Radio: 680-AM, 107.7 (Ted Robinson, Tim Ryan) | Full listings
Announcers: Chris Myers, Ronde Barber, Jennifer Hale
Spanish Radio: KTRB 860-AM (Jesus Zarate, Luis Landero)
Odds: 49ers +10
Matchup history: 29-19
Enemy blog: Revenge of the Birds
Twitter: @ninersnation
Facebook: Go ahead and give us a like!
49ers regular season schedule
Week 1: vs. Minnesota Vikings - 49ers 20, Vikings 3
Week 2: @ Pittsburgh Steelers - Steelers 43, 49ers 18
Week 3: @ Arizona Cardinals - Cardinals 47, 49ers 7
Week 4: vs. Green Bay Packers - Packers 17, 49ers 3
Week 5: @ New York Giants Giants 30, 49ers 27
Week 6: vs. Baltimore Ravens - 49ers 25, Ravens 20
Week 7: vs. Seattle Seahawks - Seahawks 20, 49ers 3
Week 8: @ St. Louis Rams - Rams 27, 49ers 6
Week 9: vs. Atlanta Falcons - 49ers 17, Falcons 16
Week 10: BYE
Week 11: @ Seattle Seahawks - Seahawks 29, 49ers 13
Week 12: vs. Arizona Cardinals - Sunday, November 29, 1:05 p.m. FOX
Week 13: @ Chicago Bears - Sunday, December December 6, 10:00 a.m. FOX
Week 14: @ Cleveland Browns - Sunday, December 13, 10:00 a.m. FOX
Week 15: vs. Cincinnati Bengals - Sunday, December 20, 5:30 p.m. NBC (SNF)
Week 16: @ Detroit Lions - Sunday, December 27, 10:00 a.m. FOX
Week 17: vs. St. Louis Rams - Sunday, January 3, 1:25 p.m. FOX