The San Francisco 49ers get a beatable team on their schedule. The Arizona Cardinals is one of those games that may be a trap game, but should be a game the 49ers should win, even with C.J. Beathard under center. They’ve been at this rebuild thing for a year and while our expectations may be a bit unrealistic for 2018, teams like the Cardinals should be beaten at this stage. If not, there may be a larger issue. The Cardinals have a few things that could surprise, like their defense, and Larry Fitzgerald who doesn’t seem to age ever, but the 49ers should be, or at least we hope they can, put this one away.
The 49ers will win if...
If they don’t blow it. The Arizona Cardinals should not be near the level the 49ers are at this moment in time. If this rebuild that Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch are working on has any progress, the 49ers will win. The Arizona Cardinals lack several key players the 49ers have managed to secure, namely veteran presence at the quarterback position and offensive line. The only thing that should worry anyone is the underrated defense in Arizona. The Cardinals defense is not bad by any stretch of the imagination despite allowing 24 points to Washington and 34 points to the Los Angeles Rams. The defense should surprise, but the 49ers are at home and can secure a lead quickly. The 49ers should win this game provided they don’t completely fall apart as the game goes on. There’s no other way to put it. The Cardinals are bad, and if the 49ers lose, it may indicate a much larger issue.
The 49ers will lose if...
Two words: Larry Fitzgerald. The Cardinals wide receiver has been known to cause a ruckus against the 49ers time and time again, and this should be no different. What’s the 49ers’ biggest issue right now? The secondary. What does Fitzgerald make look stupid whether it’s the 49ers or any other team? The secondary. Fitzgerald deserves a lot of credit for fighting through a hamstring injury that has kept him under 200 yards (65 yards for three games after Week 1) for the season (very un-Fitzgerald like). The sad part is, he still leads the wide receivers in targets and is second in receptions despite all this. The Fitz is looking, waiting for a time to fool everyone into thinking he’s not 35 years old and the 49ers seem like the perfect team to make that mirage. If they let this guy run wild with all their injuries to the secondary, the Cardinals can pull off a win.
Then the 49ers really go under the microscope.