3 Key Matchups to Watch for the 49ers against the Cardinals
Round two between the Arizona Cardinals and San Francisco 49ers is set to occur on Sunday at Levi's Stadium. The last matchup between the two on Thursday night football came down to the wire. San Francisco was taking the Cardinals to the woodshed in the first half, but Arizona mustered a comeback.
It felt like that game was the Cardinals best shot at defeating the 49ers, but now that they are coming off their first loss the 49ers look a bit vulnerable. The fact that these two teams just squared off a few weeks ago will also make it a tough matchup. There isn't going to be a great disparage that separates these teams. That is why these three key matchups will determine the difference of winning or losing.
Mike McGlinchey vs. Chandler Jones
One of the reasons that the 49ers suffered their first loss last week was due to the poor pass protection. Mike McGlinchey was a contributing factor to it. He just could not settle in and Jadeveon Clowney made him pay. It makes sense for a guy who has been missing action for over a month. Rust is only natural and it showed.
Now McGlinchey has a chance to prove that it was just rust and only rust against Chandler Jones. Jones has been on a tear this season as he has racked up 11.5 sacks on the year. He got to Jimmy Garoppolo once in week nine and is coming off a multi-sack game. McGlinchey will have his hands full with Jones.
He needs to make amends for being one of the reasons why the 49ers lost last week. Jones will definitely put him to the test. Luckily for McGlinchey, Jones should be his only worry as Terrell Suggs hasn’t practiced all week, putting his availability in doubt Sunday. If McGlinchey cannot hold his own Sunday, then Garoppolo will struggle to get comfortable dropping back again.
49ers wide receivers vs. Cardinals cornerbacks
The wide receivers of the 49ers had an awful showing against the Seahawks and were easily one of the main reasons the team lost. A rebound game against the Cardinals is just what they need to get back on track. As it stands, Emmanuel Sanders is a toss up for being active, which will just put the pressure on the rest of the group.
The receiver that needs to rise to the occasion is Deebo Samuel. He must continue to string along impressive performances like he did last week. We are already past the midpoint of the season, so he’s had enough time to get acclimated. The 49ers are gonna need him to be that third legitimate receiving option.
As for the rest, limiting the drops to zero is the main goal. The Cardinals secondary is not filled with talent outside of Patrick Peterson and even he hasn’t been too solid. Arizona will assuredly sell out for the run giving the wideouts another opportunity to make up for last weeks errors.
49ers defensive front vs. Cardinals running game
In their last matchup, the defensive front of the 49ers struggled immensely to slow down the running game of the Cardinals. The 49ers allowed Kenyan Drake, who had just arrived to the team days a before, to run all over them. Now it was a short week since it was played on Thursday night football, but it is still inexcusable to allow a newcomer to dominate.
Kliff Kingsbury is sure to circle back to their running game with Drake. The Cardinals will also have David Johnson back in the lineup to give them a different dynamic. The defensive line of the 49ers and their linebackers must be able to fill the gaps and take proper angles of pursuit. Against the pas, the 49ers held up strong.
Kyler Murray did not have too much success in the aerial game outside of the big play to Andy Isabella. It was exclusively the running attack, which makes sense since the 49ers play a wide-9 scheme. Robert Saleh will need to make the proper adjustments for this game, or else the Cardinals will dominate the time of possession. That will make it difficult for the 49ers to maintain or take a big lead in the game.
