2024-10-07 14:20:03
The 1-3 Arizona Cardinals head to northern California for a showdown with the NFC West division rival San Francisco 49ers. The Cardinals are coming off an embarrassing loss to the Washington Commanders and have shown precious little this year to make fans believe an upset on the road is possible.
However, the phrase “any given Sunday” applies here and the Cardinals may find themselves in this game more than they’re being given credit for.
Ahead of this game, I have crafted three bold predictions for what I think is going to happen. Most are positive for Arizona, believe it or not, but I do believe that the Cards will be on the receiving end of a not-so-fun bold prediction later on.
Murray hasn’t played perfect this year and his haters are once again getting louder – right, wrong, or indifferent. However, Murray has been playing great in spite of his circumstances and he’s doing one thing as well as any other quarterback across the league — he’s not turning the ball over.
Through the first month of the year, Murray has a single interception and hasn’t fumbled once despite being sacked 10 times and having to establish a new flow through the passing game with new faces. Along with his 69.4% completion rate, Murray is taking care of the football better than most quarterbacks across the league.
This 49ers defense has forced seven turnovers this year (three interceptions, four fumble recoveries off seven forced fumbles) while also generating 14 sacks and 18 pass deflections. They’re playing fundamentally sound football… and yet, I’m taking Murray to overcome that unit.
Murray will have to play at his peak for the Cardinals to have a fighting chance in this game, and I believe he’ll do exactly that. I have no clue how many touchdowns he’ll have, if he even has any, but I do believe that he’s set for another week of mistake free football.
After the most forgettable NFL debut possible for MHJ, he’s been a star ever since. Harrison has hauled in four touchdowns in three games along with 239 yards and 17.1 YPR. He’s certainly lived up to his billing as being the fourth overall selection recently.
Harrison has managed to score a touchdown in each of the aforementioned three games in part due to his connection with Murray that is improving week to week. It also doesn’t hurt that he is simply a better football player than a lot of guys he’s up against.
Don’t be fooled, the 49ers secondary is nothing to overlook with Charvarius Ward and Deommodore Lenoir playing outside corner and Talanoa Hufanga playing over the top at safety. To go along with clean football from Murray, I’ll add that MHJ finds the endzone again this week and moves his touchdown streak to four games.
To add on to this, I also don’t believe any Niners offensive player eclipses 100 rushing/receiving yards. I’ll say not to Jordan Mason, Deebo Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk, George Kittle, and anybody else from reaching the century mark.
However, that’s because I think Purdy is going to spread the ball around and have a field day on this Cardinals defense.
Purdy only has five touchdown passes this season and was held out of the endzone in week one against the Jets. I feel like this game is a “get-right” opportunity for the Niners’ offense and Purdy will be in-charge of orchestrating the attack. Considering the talent he has around him, including players I didn’t mention above, Purdy has every opportunity to have his best game of the season.
Most quarterbacks who’ve faced the Cards this season have had stellar days and Purdy will put his name among those who have had success. However many touchdowns San Francisco scores in this game, I’ll say Purdy is responsible in one way or another.
