Week 18 Game Preview: 49ers vs Cardinals

By Scooter_McG

The end of the regular season is upon us as the 49ers close out their schedule at home against the 4W-12L Cardinals. This game will see the 49ers looking to extend their winning streak to 10 in a row, while if results go their way (i.e. the Giants beat the Eagles) then a victory can see them take the #1 seed in the NFC and secure a bye in the first week of the playoffs. 

Much has been made about how teams have struggled the week following a game against the 49ers. The way the Dolphins season has tanked since they were torn apart by the 49ers has become something of a meme. But spare a thought for the Cardinals - they were a 4W-6L team before they played the 49ers in Mexico, still in the playoff mix and coming off a confidence boosting win vs the Rams, but then they were destroyed by the 49ers and they now haven't won a game since that November 14 victory against the Rams. 

It doesn't appear likely the Cardinals will snap that losing streak this week either. Arizona will be missing a bunch of star players this week, including Kyler Murray, James Connor and DeAndre Hopkins. Backup QB Colt McCoy is also out. The 49ers on the other hand will be welcoming some players back, in particular Deebo Samuel and Eli Mitchell. It will be interesting to see how much of a workload those two are given this week.

The 49ers can empathise with a team needing to play its third string QB, but it is hard to picture a scenario where David Blough can emulate the success the 49ers have had with Purdy. While the 49ers defense had a hard time with backup QB Jarrett Stidham last week, Blough doesn't offer the same type of athleticism to worry the 49ers on the ground, nor will Blough have the same types of weapons around him to take advantage of the 49ers defense. 

Given where the teams are at, and who is out for the Cardinals, this is really a game the 49ers should win easily. The only thing that can beat them is themselves. There isn't really any particular key to victory this week other than making sure they turn up ready to play and don't look at this game as a gimme. Even so, the 49ers will no doubt be tempted to either rest or limit the snap count of their star players in order to avoid any devastating injuries ahead of the playoffs and try to freshen some guys up - especially if they get wind during the game that the Eagles are looking good to secure the #1 seed. So the main key to this game for the 49ers is to keep their momentum while getting good reps out of some backups and avoiding injuries.