WK 1 Arizona Cardinals @ SF 49ers pre game thread 9/06/20-09/12/20

[SoonerLou]

49ers writer

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[Chopper0080]

I’m expecting a physical game. I think the Niners will use frequent 2 TE formations. Simmons will do his best on Kittle, but no rookie will shut him down totally. The best hope is for the Cards is they hold him down somewhat. Not sure who gets Reed but likely it falls to Murphy.

I’m curious to see how they use Campbell. I can’t believe they rotate him with Simmons. If they do, expect the Niners to audible to Kittle. Campbell cannot cover him. Maybe with Baker over the top they could contain him but that isolates a CB. Campbell could cover Reed, but surely they don’t pull Hicks. I know they’ve said the want Simmons only at ILB but it wouldn’t shock me if they’ve got some wrinkle with all three in the game against a 2 TE formation. If they do Phillips will have to create enough pressure up the middle to give Jones the opportunity to harass the QB. I’m thinking the Niners will likely only generate 20 points.

Can the Cards score more? It will be tough. First play: fake play action to Drake then hit him with a short pass. Beyond that I’m rotating Kirk and Isabella every third play or so. Isabella’s job is to take his coverage deep constantly. This early they should tire and Kirk can take advantage. If the Niners can be forced to zone, they should be vulnerable to KK’s creative passing game.

I think the SF defense will bend rather than break. Unless the line can keep Murray clean, I think the Niners squeeze out a 20-17 win.

I think you will see Dan Arnold rotate in frequently to threaten the defense vertically while forcing the 49ers to use more base personnel than they would like. When we played the 49ers last year we used TEs significantly more and in some cases 12 personnel. The 2nd game we played then was actually our 2nd highest used snap rate for TEs on the season.

Expect a lot of Drake, Hopkins, Fitzgerald/Kirk, Maxx, and Arnold. Arnold being used as the vertical threat along with Hopkins. It provides us a great run matchup if the go nickel (which is where I believe they have better personnel) and it gives us some very nice passing matchups is they stay in base.

 

[kerouac9]

I think people are really underrating how dangerous the 49ers running game could be against us. Shanahan is a run game scheme lord, and we're integrating in a bunch of new pieces across the front seven with (essentially) a no-contact training camp.

 

[Krangodnzr]

I think people are really underrating how dangerous the 49ers running game could be against us. Shanahan is a run game scheme lord, and we're integrating in a bunch of new pieces across the front seven with (essentially) a no-contact training camp.

But they do have some injury concerns along the IOL and are scraping by at WR.

 

[Ronin]

Josh Weinfuss
@joshweinfuss
·
12m

Kyler Murray said the Cardinals need to get together and talk about how they’ll protest in Week 1. “I’m sure we will defintiely come up with something,” Murray said.

 

[Ronin]

Kyle Odegard
@Kyle_Odegard

Jordan Hicks said there was a different vibe today as the Cardinals practiced with an eye on the season opener: “Christmas in the air.”

 

[Ronin]

Kyle Odegard
@Kyle_Odegard
·
44m

RT Kelvin Beachum will wear a helmet decal honoring Breonna Taylor this season. “I find it troubling that there’s been no justice at this point.”

 

[SoonerLou]

Son of a..
Was mentally counting him out this week.

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[slanidrac16]

Put pressure on Garrapolo and he will crack.

 

[BritCard]

Some match ups I'm looking forward too.

CJ vs Trent Williams
Simmons vs Kittle
Budda vs any catchable ball
Nuk vs Sherman
Jordan Philips vs a poor interior O line
Drake vs the best LB trio in the NFC

 

[MadCardDisease]

I’m expecting a physical game. I think the Niners will use frequent 2 TE formations. Simmons will do his best on Kittle, but no rookie will shut him down totally. The best hope is for the Cards is they hold him down somewhat. Not sure who gets Reed but likely it falls to Murphy.

I’m curious to see how they use Campbell. I can’t believe they rotate him with Simmons. If they do, expect the Niners to audible to Kittle. Campbell cannot cover him. Maybe with Baker over the top they could contain him but that isolates a CB. Campbell could cover Reed, but surely they don’t pull Hicks. I know they’ve said the want Simmons only at ILB but it wouldn’t shock me if they’ve got some wrinkle with all three in the game against a 2 TE formation. If they do Phillips will have to create enough pressure up the middle to give Jones the opportunity to harass the QB. I’m thinking the Niners will likely only generate 20 points.

Can the Cards score more? It will be tough. First play: fake play action to Drake then hit him with a short pass. Beyond that I’m rotating Kirk and Isabella every third play or so. Isabella’s job is to take his coverage deep constantly. This early they should tire and Kirk can take advantage. If the Niners can be forced to zone, they should be vulnerable to KK’s creative passing game.

I think the SF defense will bend rather than break. Unless the line can keep Murray clean, I think the Niners squeeze out a 20-17 win.

Simmons is currently listed as a backup on the Depth Chart that the Cardinals released today:

https://www.azcardinals.com/team/depth-chart

 

[Ronin]

Josh Weinfuss
@joshweinfuss
·
5m

49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said the air quality in the Bay Area isn’t as bad as the viral pictures of orange skies have shown. He said if the air quality hits 200, there can’t be football, either in practice or game form. It’s currently under 100 for now.

 

[Ronin]

Josh Weinfuss
@joshweinfuss

“Playing an NFL game with no one in the stands is going to feel pretty eerie.” - Kyle Shanahan.

 

[Ronin]

Josh Weinfuss
@joshweinfuss
·
3m

Kyle Shanahan says what a lot of people are thinking: He believes the NFC West is the best division in football, with a caveat: That’s before any games have been played.

 

[Ronin]

Josh Weinfuss
@joshweinfuss
·
47s

Cards fans, don’t get your hopes up for the game to be moved. The Air Quality Index for Sunday in Santa Clara is supposed to be 50. It’s trending downward.

 

[BigRedRage]

Josh Weinfuss
@joshweinfuss
·
47s

Cards fans, don’t get your hopes up for the game to be moved. The Air Quality Index for Sunday in Santa Clara is supposed to be 50. It’s trending downward.

Not that it matters much. There are no fans to create an advantage for the home team. The only advantage is familiarity and even then, that is not always an advantage.

 

[Shane]

Not that it matters much. There are no fans to create an advantage for the home team. The only advantage is familiarity and even then, that is not always an advantage.

not having to travel period is also an advantage. I’m sure they will be able to pipe in crowd noise as well. Or has that been deemed not allowed?

 

[kerouac9]

Not that it matters much. There are no fans to create an advantage for the home team. The only advantage is familiarity and even then, that is not always an advantage.

Statistically the advantage is from referees who don't want the home crowd screaming at them.

 

[CardsSunsDbacks]

Statistically the advantage is from referees who don't want the home crowd screaming at them.

I would argue the crowd noise when the road team has the ball and the lack of crowd noise when the home team has it is a legit advantage. Seems like no matter how much you prepare for crowd noise there is still quite a bit of plays that get derailed due to the extra difficulty to communicate.

 

[BritCard]

Simmons is currently listed as a backup on the Depth Chart that the Cardinals released today:

https://www.azcardinals.com/team/depth-chart

Yeah but the chart is for base. We only use base about 40%. I expect he'll be on most of the rest.

 

[BigRedRage]

not having to travel period is also an advantage. I’m sure they will be able to pipe in crowd noise as well. Or has that been deemed not allowed?

last comment I saw was they can pipe in noise but it had to be the full game noise, not just when on defense. I have not bene paying attention enough to know what the final ruling was.

 

[Russ Smith]

Josh Weinfuss
@joshweinfuss
·
5m

49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said the air quality in the Bay Area isn’t as bad as the viral pictures of orange skies have shown. He said if the air quality hits 200, there can’t be football, either in practice or game form. It’s currently under 100 for now.

you live here right?

it's horrible right now. They are saying the winds are keeping the smoke and ash up higher but if/when those die down it will be awful

I'm hopeful it clears by Sunday, right now it's stunning outside it's so dark middle of the day.

Santa Clara says 81 right now, this morning I heard a weather forecaster say if the game was today it might get cancelled because it's an extreme spare the air day. They can't really model this stuff but they are expecting it to clear more by the weekend, I sure hope so this is really bad.

This is a pic of the roof of my car. I went through a car wash saturday, and I wiped it off this morning when I got to work, so this is from 7 hours of being parked

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[Ronin]

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[Ronin]

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[Zeem_Freeze]

Mad Max Williams! need him healthy. best blocking tight end in the league per PFF right?

Edit straight from PFF: Arizona Cardinals veteran tight end Maxx Williams led all qualifiers at his position in PFF run-blocking grade (84.7) in 2019. He was also the only NFL tight end with 300-plus offensive snaps played that earned a PFF run-blocking grade above 80.0. Cook earned the lowest PFF run-blocking grade (41.7) among qualifying tight ends.


really hope this ankle injury doesnt nag him all year.