Kittle and Warner are expected to play in this game. Talanoa Hufanga, Jordan Elliott and Dee Winters do not have any injury designations and will play in Sunday’s game, per Kyle Shanahan. Kyler Murray has been his best on the Cardinals opening script of plays. After that, not so much. If the 49ers can get out to an early lead they should be fine defensively. Khalia Davis is active reinforcing that defensive front. I think Mason will have a big day today. His 268 rushing yards after contact ranks 1st among RBs this season. The Arizona defense ranks 30th in yards after contact allowed to RBs, making them vulnerable. I like the 49ers in this game, 34-20. Go Niners!
Niners Inactives:
QB Josh Dobbs (third QB) LB Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles (calf) WR Chris Conley (oblique) WR Jacob Cowing (shoulder) OL Ben Bartch CB Darrell Luter Jr.
SOME GOOD NEWS? LETS HOPE IT IS AND ACTUALLY HAPPENS!
ReplyDeleteReport: McCaffrey could return for 49ers' Week 7 game vs. Chiefs
https://sports.yahoo.com/report-mccaffrey-could-return-49ers-024200058.html
MORE GOOD NEWS:
ReplyDeleteReport: Warner, Kittle expected to play in Week 5 clash vs. Cardinals
* Star LB Fred Warner (ankle) and TE George Kittle (rib), both listed as questionable for the Week 5 slate, are expected to play in the NFC West clash at Levi's Stadium, ESPN's Adam Schefter reported late Saturday night, citing a source.
https://sports.yahoo.com/report-warner-kittle-expected-play-154216917.html
Back from a 13 day canoe trip 111 miles on the Green River in Utah to the confluence of the Colorado River also in Utah. I see that my Niners are playing mediocre ball. I also note that the injury bug is back. Haven't had time to check on individual performances as of yet.
ReplyDeleteWelcome home! It's been too long we missed you. Welcome home, we've opened up the gates.
DeleteThat sounds like a great trip and I’ll bet you had a blast. Welcome back and hopefully the Niners will play better today and continue the improvement throughout the season. Niners should win this game.
DeleteUC
DeleteSounds like fun! I'm curious what level of rapids that you encountered on your ride down the Green River? I understand they can run from Class 1, to Class 4, depending on the section of the river and the water level?
Thanks guys.
DeleteI put in at Crystal Geyser, went through The Labyrinth which is BLM land, then through the Stillwater canyon which is National Forest land, through the confluence and down a mile on the Colorado. To answer your question Geep its a very easy trip. Rapids not really, bumpy water is about it. Even at the confluence was nothing. The biggest enemy is the wind and figuring out how to run the river to miss the sandbars. May I add that I did this trip in late September, lower water. I have no idea on April-May water, what the difficulty is. It's insanely beautiful. Also I might add, I am 72 years old and it seemed most others were in their 60's,
Great job at 72. I'm that age and sometimes crawl out of bed. Happy you had a great time. Welcome back to 49ers football they could use your positive mojo!
Delete5 9ER PLAYERS THAT WILL BE KEY TO BEATING ARIZONA:
ReplyDelete* RT McKivitz: He'll need to keep OLB Dennis Gardeck from pressuring BP. Gardeck leads Arizona in QB pressures and sacks.
* S Ji’Ayir Brown: His support in stopping RB, James Conner and help preventing QB Murray from scrambling for big yards, or keeping his passing yards to a minimum, will play will be key factor in the 9ers winning the game.
* WR Aiyuk: Hasn't reach 50 yards receiving in the first 4 games.
Obviously, he's rusty after missing the offseason program and 9er training camp! It's NOW TIME for Aiyuk to step up and EARN THE
MONEY in his new contract!
QB BROCK PURDY: The 9ers have been playing D's that rush 3 and play 8 men in coverage. That puts pressure on BP to find his open receivers. It's also forced him to hold the ball and buy time scrambling for yards.
The 9ers figure to see more of the same against the Cards who
play 3 safeties and have them lining up interchangeably in different
D alignments.
BP will need to be on his game in his decision-making and accuracy.
* CB D Lenoir: He plays CB on base downs, then moves inside to covers the slot receiver in nickel situations.
He'll be tasked with stopping rookie Marvin Harrison, who leads Arizona with 15 receptions for 243 yards and 4 touchdowns.
This season, Lenoir has only allowed 13 receptions on 21 targets for 108 yards and NO touchdowns.
ReplyDeleteMatt Barrows
@mattbarrows
·
20m
Judging from warm-ups, the third/SAM linebacker today will be Dee Winters.
Man for man, the 49ers are a better team than Arizona. But this is the 1st scrambling QB they've played. Interested to see the D game plan.
ReplyDeleteNot converting in the red zone has been a real problem this season. Have to get it fixed. Especially with how the defense is playing.
ReplyDeleteWHAT?!! A positive STs play?!! Unheard of
ReplyDeleteJordan Elliott, Scooter!
DeleteGreat to see it!
DeleteSucks to lose Moody though.
This is the second where Purdy has run backwards around 15-20 yrds to avoid a sack. No Bueno! Looks like Moody is done, doggonit!
ReplyDeletesecond *time in two weeks*
ReplyDeleteConsidering all the injuries, and the way this game started....I'm glad we are up by two scores.
ReplyDeleteThat FG by Wishnowsky was so clutch!
All these injuries, with short week against 'Hawks coming.....play smart....run the ball in 2nd half and close this out.
Running the ball more is good, but can't try and win this by shutting up shop. Need to keep pressing for points. I just don't trust the defense.
DeleteDefense has got two 3 and outs to start the half.
DeleteNeed a clock chewing 7 min drive here with a TD. Brock very careless with the ball there. He has been good in this game so far, but last pass was unacceptable. Those are the plays that give the game away.
If you're referring to the INT, that was more bad luck than anything. But he has been off today for sure
DeleteDrops haven't helped too... for sure, but Offense has been sloppy.
DeleteBut my point is KS needs to change his playcalling to cater to the game situation. Pretty much call it as if we have 4 downs. So more runs interspersed.
Would be unfair to ask Defense to keep stopping them on a 106 degree day. 'Hawks and Rams both losing, so would be a wasted opportunity to lose this.
Defence just gives up too many 3rd downs to ever feel confident if the offense stops putting up points.
DeleteAgreed on interspersing more runs. Also really need to cut out the penalties and sacks.
In real danger of blowing their second big lead against a division rival here.
We are the dreaded "Up by 10 pts in the 4th Q"
DeleteStill a quarter left....let's see.
Seems like their secondary is a lot better than advertised. Throws are all contested. Purdy playing well but not a lot of open receivers. Heat?
ReplyDeleteFFS
ReplyDeleteJames Conner is just an above average RB until he plays the 49ers.
ReplyDeleteDid opposing teams run this well against the 49ers last year with Steve Wilks as DC? Sorensen is lagging.
ReplyDeleteThis is pathetic. Not one point scored in the 2nd half so far, and now looks like they'reabout to go behind. Yes, kicker out is a problem. But they've blown opportunities in the red zone all game. Awful, awful, awful game
ReplyDeleteWhen you loose the turnover battle, you usually loose the game. They got outplayed today, period.
ReplyDeleteYep. Pathetic. Deserve to lose.
ReplyDeleteOh well.. Up 10 pts on 4th quarter is never safe with this team. SMH.
ReplyDeleteThis loss is squarely on Purdy. Blame to a certain extent rests on Jordan Mason too.
Overall Offense was sloppy. Red-Zone sucks. On 4th-and1 if you don't trust your "Franchise record holding" RB and make your QB tap dance instead, then play-calling is seriously in question.
Can we win 10 games this year? Not sure with the way we are playing.
This loss falls a lot on Shanahan too. He's too fixated right now on proving this offense can be a drop back passing offense.
DeleteBut this was one of Purdy's worst games.
Two loses in a row after having leads in the second half. I agree Scooter, this team should have enough firepower not to depend on their FGK.
ReplyDeleteI understand this gets emotional but a lot of people could have played better. It’s not always the fault of the coach or the QB. A lot of plays contributed to this close loss. Clearly, Arizona came ready to play and possibly we didn’t again.
ReplyDeleteNot always the fault of the coach and QB, but a lot of the fault lies there on this occasion.
DeleteMy point is that Shanahan is unquestionably one of the best coaches in the league and Purdy one of the best QBs. To me it’s the easy thing to do, to criticize those 2 even though they are 2 of the best in the league. There were a lot of mistakes made by a lot less talented people than those 2.
DeleteYes, I am unequivocally a big fan of both Shanahan and Purdy. We're in good hands with them moving forward, imo.
DeleteAnd yes, the blame for this loss can be shared around. But they both should wear a lot of the blame for this one. Not a good game by Purdy - INTs aside, he was off all day and should have had at least 2 more TDs with his usual level of ball placement and reading of defenses.
And Shanahan did him no favours by putting a lot of the emphasis on straight drop back passing.
Looks like 9er injuries are going to make this a LONG Season!
ReplyDeleteA short week and 9ers play Seattle at Seattle. Then KC and Dallas at home. I hate being pessimistic, but that may be 3 more losses!
Not making excuses for the poor 2nd half...But I suspect the 95 temp made a difference in the 2nd half. Arizona is used to practicing in 100+ degree weather....9er, not so much.....
This season so far feels very reminiscent of 2021. Constantly finding ways to shoot themselves in the foot, and not playing with a winning mindset.
ReplyDeleteThat season it took a recommitment to the run mid year to get the team's mentality back where it needed to be. Let's hope they can figure out something this year.
Scooter
DeleteYou sir, are absoFRIGGINlutely correct!
It seems to me that Samuel is just not showing up. Aiyuk had a great first half, but was somewhat quiet in the 2nd half, which I would think was due to him being blanketed by the Cards D. The #2 WR should be stepping up, but mostly hasn't this year. The #3 WR has stepped up but got hurt early this game and wasn't available. More and more I think Deebo is expendable and I don't see any reason to keep him at his high salary. JJ has been more valuable this season than DS. Every since he got paid, he hasn't, for the most part, met expectations.
ReplyDeleteCompletely agree.
DeleteWith the way they are trying to play atm, which is a lot more drop back passing, downfield throws, Deebo doesn't fit.
This is obviously something Shanahan wants to lean into more, and is no doubt part of the reason they drafted a WR like Pearsall.
@Scooter: Why do you think KS wants to do a lot more drop back passing? Is it my imagination or is he disguising plays much less than previously.
DeleteYes I do think he wants that. He's been so reliant on scheming YAC due to his QB that I think he is relishing being able to unlock the deep ball and trust his QB.
DeleteBut I think he's course corrected a little too much this year so far.
Yes KS wasn't at his best and yes BP was rather mediocre, were they the reason we lost? I say no. Games are won and lost up front. The 49ers lost because their O line is terrible and their D line is poor. How many times did they hit Connor behind the line of scrimmage only to have him bounce off for solid gains. This team can not pass protect and is a terrible tackling team. That along with RZ inefficiency killed us today and its only going to get worse.
ReplyDeleteOh those are definitely big issues. But we already knew that. To win this team needs KS and Purdy to put the team on their shoulders.
DeleteI think they already are putting the team on their shoulders. I’m sure neither are perfect but both are among the best there is at what they do. What we really need is for the other 51 on the roster to step up. We need them to tackle better for one thing. We need them to win at the line of scrimmage, etc.,
DeleteThe biggest problem I see this season.... we don't play complimentary football in all phases. Sounds simple, but the way this team is constructed, players (and some coaches) feel that their play/coaching will never be questioned.
ReplyDeleteThere is no Meritocracy. Folks like Brendal, Yiadom, Campbell, Floyd and Schneider "think" that they are indispensable.
I personally think players are too buddy-buddy with Kyle. So he finds it difficult to hold them accountable and establish the "Standard". With coaches, some coaches he likes and they get a long rope...others like Wilks have a much shorter rope.
This team will be up and down and will go through motions, unless examples are set. The best way to do that is to "bench" and take "snaps" away from players, if their play is not upto standard. This has to be done for at least one player... like Campbell (Jalen Graham can't be much worse).
Good news is that if we beat the 'Hawks' on Thursday, we can still win the division (although No1 Seed is gone now). Bad news is that we have games coming up against Chiefs, Buffalo, Cowboys, Bucs, Packers, Dolphins, Bears and Lions.... we can lose every one of those games, if we play like this.
All the 49ers need to do is make the playoffs. Once in they will be a hard team to beat because by then they should at full strength. The incomparable Al Davis used to say "just win, baby!" For the 49ers it will be, "just get in, baby!" This team is much to good to miss the playoffs.
ReplyDeleteAES
ReplyDeleteI'd like agree with you....BUT, with all the 9ers POOR PLAY AND BAD LUCK... Nothing is preventing the 9ers from continuing to experience even more injuries.
They could end up with more players on IR at the end of this season, than now. And as Scooter posted, "This season so far feels very reminiscent of 2021."
GEEP,
DeleteI hear you. But I remember someone asking Shanahan a similar question last season after an early slow start and he said something to the effect like 'I don't know if we will even be here on Sunday." I guess anything can happen was my interpretation of that comment. I'm frustrated with how the 49ers have lost their last 2 games. But also believe that injured players will come back and they will find their groove. Just make the playoffs, is all ask for.
AES
DeleteFrom your lips, to Gods ears........
What the team needs is some inspiration, a big play that wins the game would be very inspiring.
ReplyDeleteI'm with you on that, UC
ReplyDelete9ers win this week and they are in the thick of things. They lose and they may very well be out of it. Unless the NFC west ends up being on of those divisions with an under 500 champion.
ReplyDeleteDonte Whitner said that Purdy's 2nd Int was not on Mason for not picking up the blitzer. He said Mason did exactly what he was supposed to do which was stay inside. Whitner said responsibility for the Int was 100% on Purdy. He has a hot route he should have hit or at the very least he should have thrown it away. I was all over Mason. Guess I don't know as much as I think I do.
ReplyDeletePurdy's superpower was his accuracy and that was manifested through his "check-downs". We have to go back to that, boring as it may seem.
DeleteThis Lamar Jackson/Russell Wilson.. headless chicken act is not working. It is ok for maybe once a drive, but he is living off it this season.
Has to throw away the ball more and we as a team need to impose our will and go back to running min 30-35 times a game.
Saleh has been fired. Any way to get him back into the organization, that would actually work?
ReplyDeleteSelah was never an offensive minded HC. His rah-rah style doesn't work with matured veterans, hence the awkward attempted hug on Aaron Rodgers.
DeleteTrue. But as a DC his rah-rah style and enthusiasm on the sidelines seemed to motivate the defensive players. We don't see any of that with Sorenson and didn't with Wilks either.
Delete"Twenty-nine total missed tackles by the defense over the past two games reflect on player fundamentals, and that falls on the coaching staff."
ReplyDeleteIt sure does.
Saleh will sit back, rest and collect his Jets pay for the remainder of the season but if the D doesn't improve big time the rest of the way I see him being the DC next year. The Wilkes experiment showed that KS will pull the trigger and fire a coordinator after one season. Saleh had his strengths and weaknesses but his defenses were far better than our last two DCs.
ReplyDeleteYep. If he could be convinced to take the role now I would be sorely tempted, but there's really no incentive for him to do so (outside of passion for coaching).
DeleteBut yeah, unless there's dramatic improvements in the D I don't see Sorensen making it to year 2. Heck, he may not see out year 1 anyway, with Staley an in-house option
Although based on what Shanahan just said about Sorensen when asked, you'd think he's doing an incredible job.
DeleteKyle Shanahan said "that kickers are almost independent contractors,”
ReplyDeleteWelcome Matthew Wright, bring your best tool box.
I missed the Rams game and just watched it. Jennings played like the #1 WR in that game. Last year I thought that it was a tossup in terms of who was the actual #2 WR (not based on contract values) between Deebo and Jennings. This year it's not even close. I expect Deebo to be gone after this year unless he starts to meet the expectations of his contract value, which he hasn't, imo, since he was paid.
ReplyDeleteYeah, you mentioned earlier your disappointment with Deebo. Have to agree.
DeleteThe more the offense moves away from being focused on scheming YAC, the less effective Deebo becomes.
Looking forward to seeing how Pearsall looks in this offense.
Good point about how the even more steep decline in Deebo's performance this year is probably at least somewhat related to KS scheming away from YAC. Although, Jennings made a great YAC play in the 1st half of the Rams game. As you said earlier, I agree that KS has overdone it with scheming away from YAC. I hope to see a modest increase in YAC plays from here on out, although Purdy has been relatively good at throwing the long ball. Man, that missed relatively deep ball by Bell was frustrating as hell.
DeleteThe fact Purdy has shown he can be good in such a downfield scheme this year, despite receivers not necessarily getting open frequently, just makes me believe he's the long term answer all the more.
DeleteBut just because he can do it, doesn't mean KS should focus the offense around it. Hopefully he scales it back a bit.
Bell was awful vs the Rams. As Felix and others have pointed out, the supporting cast has to get better.
So you think that KS is focusing more on drop back offense. But isn't Purdy saying that they are taking away the YAC plays, which I would think implies that some of the drop back plays are forced by what the defense is giving them. It's probably a combination of both, because the amount of play action that is being called is much less this year.
DeleteTeams have been focused on taking away the run and YAC plays against the 49ers for years. Nothing new there.
DeleteWith Brock at QB, KS is now willing to try and hurt them deep, and Brock is happy to oblige. They have had some success doing it, but also too many breakdowns.
AFTER 5 GAMES, QUESTIONS I WOULD LIKE KS TO ANSWER:
ReplyDelete* WHY, with Kittle, Deebo, Aiyuk, Mason, Jennings and BP, can't the 9ers score in the red zone?
* WITH 21 RECEPTIONS FOR 314 YARDS THIS SEASON, IS AIYUK GOING TO MAKE A HOUSE CALL AGAINST SEATTLE?
BETTER YET:
* WHY, did Mason, the NFL's second leading rusher with 447 yards, only have 14 runs called, for 89 rushing yards against Arizona? 20 runs called for 100 rushing yards, against Minnesota and only19 rushing calls, for 77 rushing yards against the Rams? All games the 9ers LOST?
* COMPARED TO WEEK 4; When Mason ran the ball 24 times for 123 yards, or week 1 when Mason had 28 carries for 147 yards..... And
the 9ERS WON both games?
* How many times will KS call on Mason to run the ball against Seattle? What am I missing?
Geep,
DeleteAriz was consistently loading the box with 8 and 9 bodies. Statistically it may look like Mason was running well but the vast majority of his yards came from 2 break away runs. Other than that the O line was doing nothing against a loaded box. When teams load the box it takes away the run and quick hitting passes but that should open up med and deep routes. The problem with those routes is the QB needs time and our O line is a horrible pass blocking line and BP was running for his life. Until there is huge improvement by the O line (likely next year) nothing is going to change. imho
@Scooter: I'm having a hard time getting over KS putting Purdy in a preseason game with the 2nd string OL and skill players playing against the 1st string defense of the opponent (I don't remember who that was). You're pretty level-headed so maybe you can provide me with a logical reason why a supposedly "elite" HC would make such a decision. Can you imagine the howling if Brock had gotten hurt. He also made head scratching decisions to continue to run CMC (into the ground) last year even though the game was well in hand. More and more I am coming to the conclusion that Kyle Shanahan is his own worst enemy and ultimately, it will prevent him from becoming one of the best NFL HCs ever.
ReplyDeleteKS explained it as Brock being adamant he wanted to play. But yeah, not having the 1st team offense around him was a mistake imo.
DeleteI think Shanahan is a great coach, but he isn't immune to making mistakes. I still believe he's the guy to bring the next title to the 49ers though.
Not a good reason. Coaches have to "save" players from themselves all the time. IMO, KS is very poor at evaluating risk to reward. Maybe he should get an OC to remove some of the burden of being both HC and OC.
DeleteThis season isn't over by a long shot. The Niners need someone to kick them where the sun doesn't shine. A win Thursday would go a long way to re-establish their dominance in the western division.
ReplyDeleteRobert Saleh was quoted in the SF Chronicle saying he will not take any mid season jobs in the NFL. He will be spending time with his family and preparing for the off season hiring period.
ReplyDeleteHe's being paid for this season. No rush to press teams for an immediate job. Apparently, Selah had good support from Jets fans. Some are reporting that Rodgers got Selah fired. Aaron denies it, of course.
ReplyDeletePasser Ratings for every QB when Pressured this season 👇
ReplyDelete1. Joe Burrow - 106.9
2. Brock Purdy - 101.6
3. Jayden Daniels - 101.1
4. Lamar Jackson - 100.5
5. C.J. Stroud - 98.4
6. Kyler Murray - 95.9
7. Baker Mayfield - 88.4
8. Aidan O'Connell - 81.5
9. Trevor Lawrence - 80.3
10. Sam Darnold - 79.9
11. Dak Prescott - 79.6
12. Josh Allen - 79.0
13. Jared Goff - 77.8
14. Aaron Rodgers - 76.6
15. Patrick Mahomes - 70.1
16. Justin Fields - 67.0
17. Deshaun Watson - 64.1
18. Jordan Love - 61.9
19. Jalen Hurts - 60.6
20. Daniel Jones - 59.2
21. Justin Herbert - 58.6
22. Kirk Cousins - 56.4
23. Caleb Williams - 54.0
24. Andy Dalton - 53.6
25. Geno Smith - 51.9
26. Anthony Richardson - 47.1
27. Bo Nix - 46.3
28. Drake Maye - 42.6
29. Tyler Huntley - 42.4
30. Spencer Rattler - 41.4
31. Will Levis - 40.3
32. Matthew Stafford - 40.1
C.J. West, NT, Kent State looks like another Evan Anderson.
ReplyDelete