CRISIS AVERTED: Arizona Cardinals Escape Trio of Serious Injuries, Ready for San Francisco 49ers

CRISIS AVERTED: Arizona Cardinals Escape Trio of Serious Injuries, Ready for San Francisco 49ers

M. Jones played well in week two, but according to Kyle Shanahan, there is a chance that Brock Perie will play against the Cardinals in week three. And even though the Arizona Cardinals have started 2 and 0, they may have skated absolute defensive disaster with a report out today. Matchups and a whole lot more on this week’s 49ers Cardinals crossover. Let’s get it. [Music] You are Locked on NFL Crossover, part of the Locked On podcast network. Your team every day. Welcome to another Locked On Network crossover episode. Brian Peacock here of Locked On 49ers alongside Alice Clancy of Locked on Cardinals getting ready for some week three action. Two unbeatens here in the FC West. So, it’s going to be a whole lot of fun. Uh we’re going to get into the biggest story lines, some key matchups here and uh and maybe even some predictions at the end of this show of what we think is going to go down this Sunday as the 49ers host the Cardinals, the 49ers home opener. Uh, I do want to thank everybody for joining us, the Everydayers, all those 49ers and Cardinals fans out there. And of course, hit that subscribe button on YouTube or wherever you are listening to this podcast. And uh, a lot of injuries for both of these football teams. Some new injuries today. In fact, when I did the Peacock and Williamson right here on the Lockdown Podcast Network, subscribe daily, myself, the entire league. And um when we did our picks, we do a six-pack on on our uh our Wednesday episode. And so earlier Wednesday, we recorded and the 49ers were favored by one and a half. And I’m not going to tell you who I picked, but now with the news of Brock Party doing a little limited practice and Kyle Shanahan says there’s a chance that he might still be able to play in week three. And with some bad injury news for the Arizona Cardinals, that line has actually moved to two and a half points now. So, what’s going on over there in Arizona with these cards? Not even close to as bad as it could have been, Brian Peacock. Like, here’s the thing. The Arizona Cardinals won week one by the skin of their teeth avoided catastrophe, even though it shouldn’t have happened. Um, and that was only expounded upon in week two where absolute calamity almost happened where the where the Carolina Panthers almost came back to beat the Cardinals at home. But the problem was the Cardinals lost three of their top corners after losing two of them before the season started. Garrett Williams, Max Melton, and rookie Will Johnson all went down what looked to all be pretty serious injuries. And news came out today, Jonathan Gette with with the media. Garrett Williams is now on IR, but he has a chance to return. I thought that was an ACL. I’m not a doctor. I thought it was an ACL. He went down right away. Max Melton looked bad. Missed the game, but he practiced today pretty much in full. And Will Johnson wasn’t at practice. He’s dealing with a groin, but there is an outside chance he plays on Sunday, and this could have been catastrophic for the Cardinals if all three guys missed as much time as it looked like they could have missed after Sunday. Which injury has the biggest impact this week when you look at how the 49ers match up with those Arizona Cardinals? Is there one injury that you’re like, man, this is one we could have really, this is a guy we really could have used this week? Garrett Williams is not a name that’s household. Do you remember when before Fred Warner was a household name? You knew he was really good. I knew he was really good. We’ve been doing this a long time together. I knew he was wearing 48 at one point. He’s like bad number but awesome player. Number 48 Warner. Yeah. Still an allp pro. So probably a year removed from being introduced into the NFL. That’s where Garrett Williams is now. He was the highest pro football focus rated zone corner last year. the dude was a third round pick just because he tore his ACL in December his last season at Syracuse. The Cardinals nabbed him. The dude is an absolute stud. So, it’s always going to be him. Even though he plays in the slot more, um the Cardinals have a defensive setup, which we’ll talk about in the next segment where you play three safeties and you move Garrett Williams to the outside and that’s where, you know, that’s where they’re most comfortable. So, it’s going to be Garrett Williams. Um Max Melon is really leveled up, but Garrett Williams is the best corner the Cardinals have. I really get the feeling that Kyle Shanahan is trying to make the Arizona Cardinals prepare for two quarterbacks. Uh I I don’t think it’s a reality that uh that Brock Purie is going to play this week, but he was limited at practice and I saw some video of him, you know, at least taking a drop back and so he’s going to give it a try and if he can go, he’s going to go. He’s just one of those guys and he’s gonna gut through it. Um the way that M. Jones played might allow the 49ers to say, “Okay, Brock, you’re 80%. It’s not worth it because what this turf toe can be. We don’t need a Joe Burrow situation and you needing surgery and missing three months instead of a couple of weeks.” So, for that reason, um I really don’t think that Brock Pretty is going to play, but I do think that Kyle Shanahan likes the fact that he’s at practice limited, so he can at least not rule him out yet. And um but we’ll see. I mean, there there’s been surprises before with who who you thought might be able to play, who won’t be able to play. And Kyle Shanahan, when guys when when the docs tell Kyle Shanahan, “Okay, this guy I think can play and the player says, “I can play.” Kyle Shanahan gives them every single carry you could possibly give them. I mean, he’s done it before. He’s done with every player. So, like, if you can go, you could go in Kyle Shanahan’s locker room. So, there is that factor as well with Brock Purie. I I think it’s doubtful that he will play. Um, but I think that Kyle Shanahan likes not knowing because then he can be like, “Oh, yeah. I don’t know. He might be able to play because I think he likes the the Cardinals preparing for both quarterbacks.” Offense not that different, though. So, I don’t know if it’s going to really change what the uh the Cards are spending their hours on this week of practice. Ego Mania just morphed into another form is all it is from Kyle Shanahan, which is fine. Uh, listen, M. Jones. Okay. And this isn’t like a Oh, could M. Jones have done exactly what Brock Py did if they drafted M. Jones? That’s not what I’m going to ask you. M. Jones looked more than competent last week. Okay. When you have really good skill position players, even with KD out, when you’ve got Trent Williams, when you’ve got at least an average to slightly above average offensive line and Christian McAffrey, is M. Jones talented enough to be if say Brock Party was 85%. Are you still starting M. Jones to kind of one more week to see like is this is this a wait and see kind of thing? I think I think waiting for Brock Purie to be 100% is more about Brock Purie not missing more time, okay, than it is about you need him in there at 85% over M. Jones. I I think is the best way to put it. I I think you know 85% Brock Pury would be fine and I would probably start him there. If you think that there’s no possible way that he could injure himself further and really hurt that turf toe injury, which can be a long-term injury and initially was, you know, two to five weeks and it’s turned out it might only be one week if he actually does end up playing. So, uh, less about performance, more about long-term injury, I think, for for Brock Party there. And M. Jones did play really well, but again, and the Arizona Cardinals are familiar with last week’s opponent for the 49ers, the New Orleans Saints. And both those games against the Saints for these two teams went similar where the Saints aren’t very good thankfully because, you know, the 49ers and the Cardinals probably didn’t play their best game necessarily, but still got out with wins because I don’t think the Saints are that good. Maybe you’ve got a a different feel from those games against the Saints, but I kind of look at these games and like, okay, uh these were teams early in the season kind of not quite uh ready, you know, mid-season form yet, and thankfully you’re playing against the New Orleans Saints, which is why I’m I’m fascinated to see how this goes in week three against the Cardinals now at 2. Yeah, this is going to be the barometer check cuz I think, you know, even though the Cardinals played the Cardinals playing the Saints in week one was a preseason game, like it was a preseason game, luckily they skated out with a win. I I don’t know why people aren’t talking about how Spencer Rattler’s playing. He torched in some respects the 49ers at times on defense and that’s not a knock. He looked very very clean and very comfortable. So just because it was the Saints doesn’t mean it was the worst team we’ve ever seen in the NFL which is what they’re kind of getting painted as now with the Cardinals in Carolina. That was more the the litmus test like you had in New Orleans last week where it’s like that was kind of it. two bad teams you’re supposed to beat didn’t necessarily go as swimmingly as you’d hoped even though it was week two and you were kind of the cobwebs off um for me cuz you’re right this is the barometer check and this is the perfect time to discuss this to my you know fears every look at this man next to me okay you talk about injuries they’re never healthy and they always win games okay so just because the Cardinals are dealing with some sort of adversity early in the season doesn’t mean with good coaching it’s not circumventable And like with George KD, he’s a double-edged sword. He’s elite when he’s on the field and he’s not on the field 16 games every year. So, it’s like you deal you roll with the punches. You deal with what you got to deal with and you move the hell forward and hope you win more games than you lose. I mean, because the 49ers are never healthy ever, ever. All the stars are never healthy. And the last time they were, 2023 is a pretty they they were top five health that year and went to the Super Bowl, right? And so that’s, you know, that it’s and they’re bottom five injury team every other year aside from that and has still gone to championship games and Super Bowls. So, um, yeah, look, and everyone’s hurt every week anyway, so you got to throw that out the window. And I know it hurts to have some certain players gone over others, but uh, you got to find a way to win and the 49ers are a well coached football team. So, that’s one of the key matchups for me in this game and the game inside the game as it is sometimes known. key matchups for 49ers Cardinals in week three. What are the paths to victory for these teams? Maybe even some predictions here before we go on this 49ers Cardinals crossover Thursday. And today’s episode of Locked On 49ers and Locked on Cardinals is brought to you by Mazda. Mazda crafts cars for those who do more than simply move. Mazda delivers confidence with every ride with more IHS top safety pick plus awards than anyone else from footwork to breath work. Athletes sweat all the details. I’m sweating right now. I’m working hard here. It’s a nice warm sunny summer day. It’s still summertime over here and uh and I’m feeling it. I’m sweating. I’m sweating the details. I’ve got breath work going on. Not as much footwork sitting in my chair. But it’s important to me, right? It’s important to the players on the field. I know it’s important to Alex Clansancy. important to Mazda. Mazda brings the same intention to how they craft every model. You can feel the Japanese craftsman craftsmanship in every detail from the metallic accents to available Napa leather upholstery. I’ve got them CX-5. It’s been a phenomenal vehicle for me. And when you sit in it, when you drive it, you really feel the difference with a Mazda. And like the players out there on the field, we sweat every detail because when you make every move count, impossible becomes a relevant Mazda move and be moved. Okay, let’s take a look at some key matchups here. Week three, it’s the San Francisco 49ers hosting the Arizona Cardinals. Cards running into a buzzsaw in week three home opener for the 49ers. Can I drop a little stat on you really quick? I was going to save this for the end, but uh I was a little surprised when I saw this. What’s going on with the Arizona Cardinals just being little brother in the division? The Cards are 4 and4 against division opponents since 2022. Yeah, I think are all four of those wins against the 49ers. I think three of them are against the 49ers. Yeah, this is I preface this already with my boys yesterday with my every day was yesterday. I’m like, just wait for the elitism to come in. Wait for the little brother stuff to come in. It’s gonna it’s going to be the first segment. It may be the second. And here we go. Look, that’s that’s just the stats, okay? That’s just the stats telling the story. That wasn’t me putting it out there. Four and I already forgot what it was. Four and 13. Four and 14 against the division since 2022. Um, what is the key matchup? What What matchups you looking at here for the Cardinals against these 49ers? There’s two. Um, the Cardinals rush attack has been awful. Um, I think the NFL has finally caught up and like, hey, they’re really good at running the ball. Let’s stop that. Let’s put two more large men in the box instead of, you know, letting them run all over regardless of who the quarterback is. That’s one for me. The the uh offensive line run block rate has been terrible. Their pass block has been very, very good. Um, so that’s one. It’s it’s really going to be a determination on if they can run the ball effectively and if not can they if not can they pivot and actually unlock Marvin Harrison Jr. at some point um more than what he’s been and kind of been you know a second or tertiary option on offense and the second one is always going to be Nick Bosa. I wonder if he’s going to line up along you know right in front of Jonah Williams on the on the right side his left or if they’re going to if we’re going to see some matchups between Paris Johnson Jr. and him. Um for those who don’t know Paris Johnson Jr. is going to be a perennial pro bowler in this league or fringe for a long time. He’s been excellent. He’s given up very few pressures since moving over to the left side, his natural position. So, those are the two biggest ones from Well, I can tell you where Nick Bos is going to line up. Uh, and it is everywhere and it’s one of the things that we’ve seen a lot and it’s definitely a key matchup for me is the way that Robert Salah has been running the the unit now since he’s gotten back for the 49ers and it looks a little bit different than when he was running the unit previously a few years ago. Uh, and uh, it’s it is not a uh, I use the word static and and I think that’s kind of how it was when Robert Solah first showed up. a lot of cover three. You’re trying to get home with your front four. And he still would like to get home with four, but he’s been blitzing more and he has been moving his pieces around on his defensive line quite a bit. And I think one of the big factors is he saw how bad the 49ers were against the run last year and he’s like, “No, this is not this is not cool. This is not going to work.” So, they really got rid of all their defensive tackles, brought in two, drafted two 315 plus pound defensive tackles, and it was a clear indication that they wanted to be better stopping the run. He’s been running um more zone than in recent years as well. The 49ers in the first two games have only run 15% man coverage. So, I think a lot of that is is as well against the run. And I sure I’m sure it’s going to be the same against Kyler Murray and in an athletic quarterback, right? To get your eyes on the back field and come downhill. And so I think a lot of the things that he’s done is to get better against the run. And then the way he’s gotten better against the pass is he’s blitzed a lot more often than he had in years past. And they’re blitzing 25% right now. And they’re bringing, you know, Upton Stout, the the the rookie nickel. They’re bringing guys from different places. They’re showing some zone blitz looks where they drop a defensive lineman and then overload one side and then they’re, you know, sim pressures where it looks like anybody could come bringing guys up against the line of scrimmage and then dropping guys back. So, um, he’s really working hard to get better as a pass rushing unit while also getting better against the run, which is what good coaches do and that’s why Robert Sol is such a such a good coach. So, um, you know, I think a handful of snaps, Bosa’s even lined up on the interior as well. And that’s something that Robert Sol has featured is that four man, the four the four defensive end line where, you know, third downs, he’s got Mike Williams, the first round pick, bumped inside. He’s got Ear Gross MTOS bumped inside. And then he brings in the the speedster in Bryce Huff coming off the edge with Nick Bosa. and uh the first two weeks of the season, the Seahawks and the the New Orleans Saints respectively had a chance to come to win the game and were driving down the field and in week one it was Nick Bosa and in week two it was Bryce Huff that had strip sacks and called game and really closed the game out with that pass rush. So that’s what the 49ers have looked like on the defensive side of the ball. And when you speak about the running game, the 49ers haven’t really gotten the the running game going all that much. Christian McAffrey uh you know has 13 124 rushing yards in two games. He had a 22 carries in the first game. They actually got away from the run a little bit more and Christian McAffrey enlightened his load in week two, but he’s been lining up a lot. Not quite wide back style and I’ve been advocating that Christian McCaffrey become the wide back in this game, but he’s been their number two wide receiver. He’s got the most receptions on the team by almost double. He’s got 15 catches for 125 receiving yards. Only Ricky Pieraw has more receiving yards than Christian McCaffy right now on the 49ers roster in only eight receptions. Um, but the 49ers, you know, the 3.2 yard clip running the football right now. Arizona Cardinals, I think there was the one big Trey Benson. Was that a run or a catch in week one? He had like a 60some yard, right? And aside from that, they haven’t really been doing much on the ground. And then I’m looking around the rest of the league, all these rookie running backs stink. Nobody’s running the ball. Well, it’s like the Ravens and the Eagles are the only teams that can run the ball right now in the entire league. So, I don’t know if it’s a leaguewide problem, if the defenses are ahead of the offenses or what, but uh I’m sure both of these football teams and their identities would like to be able to go in there in week three and say, “Yeah, we’re going to run the ball better.” Yeah, for sure. I mean, you look at I mean, you know, a key key matchup is always Christian McCaffrey versus the 11 people wearing Arizona Cardinals uniforms on defense. I still see Christian McCaffrey as if I was guaranteed 17 weeks, I’m taking him number one overall outside of non-quarterback to start a team. If I know he’s playing 17 weeks, I don’t care what his age is. I don’t care who Bejan is. I don’t care who Derrick Henry is. Christian McAffrey is the scariest weapon from the running back position in the NFL still when healthy. And I think that’s not an out. I mean, that’s just true. I think it should be factual in the in the encyclopedia that that’s true until it’s not because of what he can do in the pass game. And I agree with you like especially with Debo gone and you don’t have he doesn’t have to be hit by large men in between the tackles every time he touches the ball. Yeah, I’d spread him the hell out, you know, and have half his touches even if it’s just extension of the run game. I completely agree with that. Um yeah, now with the Cardinals specifically, it’s really about just keeping everybody in front of you. The fact that George KD isn’t there is really beneficial. at this point, even though the backup tight end has two touchdowns in two weeks, I believe. Um, no, it was two different tight ends. It was the and and they both had their first NFL touchdowns. It was Ton just in week one and then it was Frell in week two. That’s right. And by the way, that feral touchdown is a great example of the gravity of Christian McCaffrey because everyone comes in knowing they got to stop 23 and then when you have 10 guys who are going and trying to tackle 23, but guess what? the quarterback didn’t hand it off and he’s booting out to the left and then Luke Ferrell sitting there by himself and you could throw an easy touchdown pass. So that’s part of it too. And oh yeah, Christian McCaffrey did have a reception split out as a wide receiver in the slot, a touchdown catch from nice little touch pass from from M. Jones. So I do like seeing Christian McCaffrey split out more this year. Yeah. I mean and just the thing for the for the defense and obviously we’ll talk about this in the next segment, the final one is like Nick has always been able to just adjust. Never had good players the first the first two years. I mean, last year was a lot better than 2023, but he’s got plenty of talent on defense, especially up front. And the pass rush, they he hasn’t blitzed much. I think they’re last in the league at blitz rate. And I think it’s by design. I think a lot of it is like we saw when when Bleep was hitting the fan against Carolina. He had a couple blitz packages come through that got home. It’s like, okay, there it is. It’s like, well, you don’t want to show Kyle Shanahan anything. Like, what are we doing here? There’s two division games. One of them is on a short week on Thursday Night Football, week four. I think we’re going to start to see what Nick Rollis is truly made of up front with some actual pass rush talent from the interior and on the outside and that’s going to be fascinating to see if they can overload Trent Williams who has you know discounts it in movies now is what I say like he’s he’s at that point even though he’s still borderline elite um if not elite but that that’ll be fascinating to see when the pass rush is unleashed what that’s going to look like against an average to above average offensive line. We’ve talked a little bit about the revamped 49ers defensive line. I want to talk a little bit more about that revamped defensive line for the Arizona Cardinals. What that might look like, some more key matchups and paths to victory for the 49ers and Cardinals in week three coming up on this crossover episode next. Today’s episode brought to you by 5Hour Energy. Caffeine just got a flavor upgrade. 5-hour energy shots deliver tasty caffeine in 17 bold flavors. 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Or be bold and try something new in store and online at 5hour energy.com or find it on Amazon today. In today’s episode and all crossover Thursday episodes brought to you by our friends at prize pickics and make sure you use our code locked on NFL. More on that in a moment because the daily fantasy app prize picks is where the making the right pick can actually pay off. And I mean, look, I make right picks. A lot of you Cardinal fans might not realize how often we make such right picks over here on Locked on 49ers. And when you’re listening to Locked on Cardinals every day, you might not realize how many right picks could be made on a podcast. Uh, no, just kidding. Uh, love Alex, love doing these crossovers, man. Uh, and you and I, we make decisions every day, but on prize picks, being right means cashing in. With football back, prize picks is the simplest and fastest way to get in on the action. Just pick more or less on two to six player projections. And you can turn your takes into real prizes, all in less than 60 seconds. And how about some max discounts to make that even easier on one of your two to six player projections? And this week, it’s Patrick Mahomes. And all you need is more than.5 passing yards. So, that’s an easy one. Find out on prize picks. Download the Price Picks app today and use code locked on NFL to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup. That’s code locked on NFL for $50 in lineups after your first $5 plays. It’s good to be right. So, Clas Campbell doing Kas Campbell thing so far early with the Arizona Cardinals. Got a couple sacks. Talk to me about the defensive line rotation and if that’s an area where the Cardinals could potentially have an advantage against the 49ers offensive line with a banged up Hall of Famer in Trent Williams and then you know some up and down play throughout the line and a rookie left guard in Connor Colby. Looks like he’s going to start with Ben Bart injured this week. Yeah, you know it’s a lot of everything. So starting with the not so great first. Darius Robinson is one of the 10 worst graded interior defensive lineman in the NFL through two weeks. I think he’s 134 out of 148, 138 to 148, something like that. Um Dante Stills, uh very unknown, like not a household name, was a sixth round pick a couple years ago. He’s been the best interior defensive lineman the Cardinal have had up until this season. He’s playing well. Um and then you have Dvin Tomlinson, you know, a big body up front, one of the better run stuffers we’ve seen over the last six or seven years. And yeah, Kas Campbell’s doing his best LeBron James impersonation. Like the dude just doesn’t he’s as jovial about the game as he was when he came into the league. Like everybody loves Kas Campbell. 6’8, 300 whatever pounds. He’s one of the best interviews. He’s got a you know, he’s got a great voice. Like the dude is just great. And you know, he’s had he had a couple sacks. He ended the game last week. Um not only is this defensive line exponentially better than what it’s been the last couple years, that’s pretty obvious. throwing in Josh Sweat, Baron Browning are both ranked highly coming off the edge. Rushing forward, even though they’re not getting home, it’s doing the job. And I know it’s against two teams who aren’t the best. I know the sack numbers aren’t fantastic, but Jonathan G doesn’t care about sack numbers. He cares about getting the ball. And the Cardinals, you know, had a had strip sack for a touchdown last week, then an interception on the next drive. This is a more than serviceable defensive line. And I think we’re going to see both sides, Brian. This is the coming out party. This is it. This is when the season starts. All the cobwebs are off. No more secrets. We’re going to throw everything out and then we’re going to see what more hobbled team is going to reign supreme. And I I don’t think this game is going to be close. I just don’t know which way it’s going to go yet. Yeah. For the Cardinals, it feels like that college schedule where he had the non-conference stuff. You had Alabama&M and you had uh Ball State and then all of a sudden, okay, now we’re going to jump into that conference action. and we have a big time matchup this week. So, I that that’s going to be a lot of fun and uh and uh it’s going to be a popcorn game for me and and learn a little bit about these zone callers. I had a lot of good things to say about the Arizona Cardinals coming into the year, too. So, a couple of unbeatens and of course, you know, knocking off your division opponents is a is a really good way to go win your division. Are the Cardinals ready for prime time? Uh, one of the key matchups to me in the path to victory is, uh, and I think this is part of, you know, playing a lot of that zone defense for Robert Saw and the 49ers is is getting better against athletic quarterbacks because it’s been an Achilles heel for the 49ers defenses for a while. And um, they’ve got speed at linebacker. D Winters and Fred Warner, probably the most athletic pair of linebackers in the NFL right now. It’s been amazing to watch number 53 uh D Winters out there doing his best Dre Green law impression and that was one of the the big losses for the 49ers and uh I’m hearing from Broncos fans are like man this is rough because Dre Green law can’t get on the field because he’s constantly hurt and all of a sudden the 49ers go develop another one and Robert Sol the linebacker whisperer seeing these guys fly around all the beef I talked about that they have up front um and it’s going to be huge because you got to keep Kyler Murray at bay can’t let him go make big plays and uh and maybe hope he makes some mistakes. And I’d probably ask you, is this are we seeing a new Kyler Murray? Is he taking more steps or is this kind of the same guy that we’ve seen in recent years? All you want is the B2B plus version of him. Like Brian, the reason why I struggle with this and every like log to Cardinal listeners know this. Like I say, I struggle with this. When he’s at his absolute peak, only five quarterbacks can do that. seven, six. He’s a bonafide top seven or eight quarterback at his absolute peak and that his valley he’s a bottom seven. Brock Perie and maybe four more, right? Yeah. Okay, that’s exactly right. That’s exactly right. Yeah, that’s You know what? You took the words right off. If you want to co-host locked on Cardinals, too, I think we get along. I was just trying to count. I was like, okay, well, Brock and Lamar obviously and then maybe there’s a couple more. Yeah, I think that’s about it. And then just Kyler. I think that’s it. That’s completely rational. Um, the last time Cardinal Kyler Murray was on the Levi Stadium field, he housed it from 45 or 50. Knew right away that it was gone. Like, we’ve talked on this crossover for eight years now. So, that’s a lot of shows. Every single time since 2019, you’ve said the 49ers struggle with mobile quarterbacks and it hasn’t waned. With Kyler Murray, his floor is higher than it than it has been. He’s got a better defense. He’s got the best skill position players, the best offensive line he’s had. He’s been very efficient. He’s thrown the ball very well and he had that weird interception in Carolina. But like this could be the best, most competent football from a floor standpoint than we’ve seen. It’s not about the ceiling in 2025. It’s only about the floor and winning games. And so far so good, even though the opponents haven’t been fantastic. Yeah. Kind of a a middle of the field game, too. the way I’m looking at it just because um the Cardinals are a team that we know how the 49ers offense operates. They want to be balanced. They want to be able to run the football. A lot of uh aggressively intermediate throws, I call it, over the middle of the football field. And for the for the for the Cardinals, they want to run the ball. You got a hammer in Connor. You got the speed in Benson. Um you got a quarterback that can extend plays. And you’ve got one of the better tight ends in the NFL that needs to be covered by linebackers and safeties. And so, uh, I I would put both linebackers out there. Fred Warner, highest graded, I think, linebacker in the NFL right now. No surprise, playing, uh, he was defensive player of the year type stuff last year before he broke his ankle and he looks the same again this year. Uh, and then you got the rookie Marcus Seagull as safety as well with Jason Pinock that uh, that have to maintain over the top when Kyler Murray gets out on the move and have to come down and run support and have to cover, you know, that tight end. So, I think that’s really the area of the field that this game is going to be won and lost. It’s a middle of the field football game and I like the Niners linebackers. Um, young secondary. We’ll see how they hold up. That’s my path. Yeah. I mean, Fred Warner wins. Yeah, Fred Warner. Well, I’m sick of talking about him. I’m sick of talking about him. He’s so good. It’s just How do you go from Patrick Willis, Dre Greenlaw, Fred Warner? It just doesn’t make any sense. So, it’s interesting you say that. Bowman. Yeah, Navar Bowman. That’s right. It’s interesting you say that because one of the more interesting storylines around Marvin Harrison Jr. specifically is his usage this year in route running. It’s not just run straight Marv. It’s like oh let’s develop a little bit more. Let’s actually mature as a play as a play caller number one with with um Drew Petting and Kyler Murray going through his going through his progression stuff like that. There’s been a lot more crossing routes that we saw the birth last year as you may remember when they played the 49ers. It was fourth down inside their own 30. There was this huge sweeping crossing route that Marv ran. Kyler threw him the ball. He went up and got it and that extended the drive and allowed the Cardinals to go down and win the game. When it comes to Marv, there’s been a lot more just crossing routes, not drag routes, not sweeping. Let’s see how Kyler Mur can extend the play. Just crossing routes across the middle, timing routes. And it’s worked pretty well so far. So, there’s been a lot of talk in Phoenix about his usage. And I think it’s a Marv problem. I think it’s time. It’s like, all right, it’s time. It’s time. Give us give us everything. And I’m not saying he’s not he doesn’t work hard or anything like that, but this could be the game where you see the full Marv package. And um damn it, I hope it’s here cuz if they unlock that, this offense knows no bounds. Will it be the Marvin Harrison Jr. game for the Arizona Cardinals? Uh Niners Cardinals week three. Let us know what you guys think about this game. Hit us up on Twitter in the YouTube comments. Make sure you subscribe while you’re there. Thanks to everybody out there listening to this Crossover episode. Alex, it’s always a pleasure to chat with you once again this season and I look forward to doing it again. And uh that’s it for this week’s 49ers Cardinals crossover. Talk to you next time on the Locked On Network.

Brock Purdy’s turf toe throws a wrench in San Francisco’s game plan, leaving fans and analysts speculating about Kyle Shanahan’s next move. Will he start Mac Jones against Arizona’s revamped defense? This decision could dramatically alter the 49ers’ offensive strategy and the game’s outcome.

Brian Peacock and Alex Clancy, our expert hosts, dissect the crucial matchups that will define this NFC West battle. They focus on the explosive face-off between Nick Bosa and the Cardinals’ offensive line, a confrontation that could determine the game’s tempo. The duo also explores Christian McCaffrey’s potential to dominate the run game and how his performance might compensate for any quarterback uncertainties.

On the flip side, Kyler Murray’s mobility presents a unique challenge to the 49ers’ defense, which has historically struggled against nimble quarterbacks. Our hosts analyze Murray’s capacity to exploit this weakness and how it might shift the game’s dynamics.

The resurgence of veteran Calais Campbell adds another layer of intrigue. Can his disruptive presence on the defensive line throw a wrench into San Francisco’s typically smooth offensive rhythm?

This episode dives deep into the injury reports, strategic adjustments, and key player matchups that will shape this pivotal divisional clash. Listeners will gain insider perspectives on how both teams might adapt their game plans in response to these challenges.

Whether you’re a die-hard fan or a casual observer, this podcast offers expert analysis and bold predictions for what promises to be a thrilling Week 3 showdown. Don’t miss out on these critical insights as the 49ers and Cardinals prepare to battle for early-season supremacy in the NFC West. Let’s discuss.

The Best Daily Arizona Cardinals Podcast. Host Alex Clancy (@ClancysCorner) take an unbiased approach covering the biggest Cards stories.

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