Sunday, September 21, 2014

University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale

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Before the season most people expected the NFC West race to be one of the best in football with two elite teams in San Francisco and Seattle battling for home field advantage. After two weeks it's not the Seahawks or 49ers leading the way as the Arizona Cardinals have fought for two tough wins to sit atop the West at 2-0. San Francisco comes in after coughing up a 17-0 lead in a loss to the Bears Sunday Night while Arizona was impressive on the road, beating the hapless Giants but with a backup QB.

Through 2 games, the 49ers have been outscored 35-3 in the second half, compared to a 45-10 advantage in the first half. Sure, San Francisco is still 1-1 but raises some questions about the team getting complacent after building a big lead. The 49ers have enjoyed a balanced rushing attack so far, something that will be important to sustain against last year's top rush defense, but QB Colin Kaepernick's 3 TD / 3 INT ratio must be improved upon the rest of the year. The San Francisco defense on the other hand has performed admirably despite missing key starters, ranking 14th in opponent passing yards and 7th in opposition rushing yards.

QB Drew Stanton should benefit from having an extra week to prepare as the Cardinals starting QB. The 8th year player hadn't seen regular season action since 2010 but performed conservatively admirable in last week's 25-14 win over New York. Stanton showed good rapport with Larry Fitzgerald hooking up 6 times for 51 yards with a TD that was called back. In total Stanton finished 14/29 with 167 yards but more importantly 0 INT. One bright spot so far for Arizona is the return of their rush defense dominance, allowing just 66.5 yards despite losing some key players on the front 7.

This isn't the same Arizona Cardinal team that won 10 games last year mainly due to injuries to the run stuffers up front and now having to deal with the loss of Carson Palmer. Bruce Arians' offense is simply less dynamic with Drew Stanton running it rather than Palmer, although Stanton does bring a scrambling ability that was nonexistent. The common trend would be that San Francisco wipes the bad taste out of their mouth from last week's loss and gets the win but conference road wins are always tough, especially on shorter weeks.

San Francisco 49ers Betting Trends

San Francisco 49ers are 1-1-0 Against the Spread

San Francisco 49ers are 1-1-0 against the Over/Under

Arizona Cardinals Betting Trends

Arizona Cardinals are 1-1-0 Against the Spread

Arizona Cardinals are 0-2-0 against the Over/Under

Injuries to Watch

San Francisco 49ers

09/14/14 T Anthony Davis Hamstring "?" Sunday vs. Arizona
09/14/14 C Marcus Martin Knee "?" Sunday vs. Arizona
09/14/14 CB Tramaine Brock Concussion "?" Sunday vs. Arizona
09/14/14 TE Vernon Davis Ankle "?" Sunday vs. Arizona
09/08/14 RB LaMichael James Rest has been released
09/04/14 LB Aldon Smith Suspension expected to miss weeks 1-10 of regular season
09/04/14 T Brandon Thomas Knee out indefinitely
09/04/14 TE Garrett Celek Back PUP
09/04/14 LB NaVorro Bowman Knee PUP
09/04/14 FB Trey Millard Knee out indefinitely
09/04/14 NT Glenn Dorsey Bicep out indefinitely
09/04/14 DT Kaleb Ramsey Undisclosed PUP
09/04/14 CB Keith Reaser Knee out indefinitely
09/04/14 RB Kendall Hunter Knee IR
09/04/14 RB Marcus Lattimore Knee out indefinitely

Arizona Cardinals

09/14/14 LB Alex Okafor Thigh "?" Sunday vs. San Francisco
09/14/14 QB Carson Palmer Shoulder missed last game, "?" Sunday vs. San Francisco
09/14/14 P Dave Zastudil Groin "?" Sunday vs. San Francisco
09/14/14 DE Frostee Rucker Calf "?" Sunday vs. San Francisco
09/11/14 LB John Abraham Concussion out indefinitely
09/04/14 C Lyle Sendlein Calf out indefinitely
09/04/14 DL Darnell Dockett Knee IR
09/04/14 LB Daryl Washington Suspension out for season

Tony's Pick: Take San Francisco

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