With a tremendous win over the Bengals on Sunday night, the Arizona Cardinals are pulling away from the rest of the NFC West pack with relative ease. They can’t bear to lose any momentum next Sunday, even with the just lowly San Francisco 49ers on tap.
Anything can happen in any given divisional rivalry, and next week’s contest should be no different. Having said that, let’s now take a look below at exactly how the Cards size up with the Niners.
Afterwards, head on over to our previews for the Giants vs. Redskins and Dolphins vs. Jets for a pair of Week 12’s other focal divisional matchups that you should keep a close eye on as we approach gut-check time heading towards the NFL’s postseason.
[sc:Football ]Arizona Cardinals vs. San Francisco 49ers Preview
Where: Levi’s Stadium, Santa Clara
When: Sunday, November 29, 4:05 PM ET
Line: Arizona Cardinals at San Francisco 49ers – view all NFL lines
TV Broadcast: FOX
Betting on the Arizona Cardinals (8-2)
A week after an impressive road victory over Seattle, the Arizona Cardinals once again came out victorious against another top-bill opponent this Sunday by defeating the Cincinnati Bengals, 34-31. That’s now four-straight wins for the Cards, who maintain their comfortable three-game lead atop the NFC West’s ladder.
[sc:NFL240banner ]The game against Cincy was exactly what we expected: a barnburner between two of the NFL’s most potent offenses. Arizona’s Carson Palmer overcame two first half picks and still got to throw four touchdowns in the win, going 20-of-31 through the air for 317 yards.
What’s frightening about this Cardinals offense is that the unit may have even found another deep-ball threat in Sunday’s game. J.J. Nelson – Arizona’s fifth-round pick from this year’s draft – busted out for a team-high 142 receiving yards and a TD on just four catches. The rookie now has 212 receiving yards over his last two games after being targeted just four times without a catch through his first three games as a pro.
On the flipside, the Cards’ D is starting to show some chinks in its armor. Their defensive unit has now given up over 30 points over the last two contests after containing teams below that limit in all eight of their previous games this season.
With the sputtering 49ers up next, the team has an opportune chance to fix its defense just in time for its push for a bye this postseason, even if the contest will be held away from home. In fact, Arizona has won four of its last five games on the road (SU/ATS), with the total going over in all four of those wins.
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Betting on the San Francisco 49ers (3-7)
The 29-13 loss to the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday goes to show that the San Francisco 49ers’ 2015 season is all but lost at this point.
Backup quarterback Blaine Gabbert may have given the Niners a glimmer of hope with Week 9’s win over the Falcons, and his 264 yards and one touchdown on 22-of-34 passing on Sunday was not bad at all. However, his failure to get points on the board hurt the team the most.
Yes, Gabbert has been more efficient and less panicky that Colin Kaepernick before him, but San Francisco is still not turning their drives into actual points, as the team is averaging a league-worst 14 points per contest. Furthermore, slow starts in games are also crippling the 49ers. Just this past Sunday, they managed to gain just 38 yards of total offense in their first four possessions.
And without star running back Carlos Hyde in the lineup due to a foot injury, San Francisco really has no other option that to lean on Gabbert on the passing game. Case and point: the team gained just 59 rushing yards on Sunday. In turn, the 49ers converted just 14 first downs on offense, which was exactly just half of the Seahawks’ 28 first down conversions in the game.
Furthermore, the Niners aren’t getting it done on defense, too. Heck, they just surrendered 508 massive yards to Seattle, with backup running back Thomas Rawls torching them for 208 rushing yards all by himself.
The 49ers have got to start taking more risks on offense considering that their season is going nowhere anyway. They only have nine turnovers this year, but their cautious approach is not winning them games, either. Turning Sunday’s match against the high-flying Cardinals into a shootout should be the best resort for this team, for better and for worse.
What’s rather peculiar, though, is that Arizona has had a hard time beating the Niners on their own home turf. San Francisco has won the past six home starts against the Cards, going 4-2 against the spread during that span.
Writer’s Prediction
Arizona continues to impose its dominance over the division with a breezy 34-16 win in Santa Clara.
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