Homecoming vs. Hometown Hero: Can Kyler Crash Purdy's Arizona Party?
Brock Purdy, born and raised in Queen Creek Arizona (fewer than 40 miles southeast of Phoenix), will have a cheering section of friends and family on Sunday at State Farm Stadium in Scottsdale. The heavily favored 49ers face Kyler Murray and the Arizona Cardinals in what promises to be Purdy's homecoming party. Can Murray crash the celebration?
The 49ers have arguably the best roster in football. The Cards roster has many holes in it, especially on defense. One area where the 49ers are banged up is defensive tackle. Arik Armstead and Javon Hargrave have both been ruled out. Same with Elijah Mitchell, Ross Dwelley & Oren Burks. Dre Greenlaw is banged up. So are both starting offensive guards Aaron Banks and Spencer Burford. Mooney Ward has groin pull, which can be tricky for a cornerback.
The Cards are banged up as well, but replacement players are much more replaceable than star and super stars:
The 49ers defense did great job of containing Jalen Hurts two weeks ago in Philadelphia. Nick Bosa didn't use any moves that could compromise his gap integrity or edge containment. No spin moves, or swim moves, outside pass rush moves, inside pass rush moves or stunts. Just straight bull rushes to no farther than than quarterback depth, then he waited for Hurts to be surrounded before going for the sack.
Containing Murray will be more difficult. He is a more dynamic runner than Hurts (faster as well as quicker). As mentioned earlier, the 49ers are also missing both starting defensive tackles, leaving Javon Kinlaw as their best interior defensive lineman. It's not just the star power that will be missed in the middle of the defensive line, but also the depth as the game wears on. Plus Murray is smaller, which would seem to favor the 49ers, but he has been able to get multiple roughing calls in recent contests between these two teams.
This is also a classic trap game scenario for the 49ers, who play the AFC leading Ravens next week on Christmas day in a possible Super Bowl preview. It's impossible not to look ahead with anticipation of such an epic showdown.
The 49ers are favored by 12 points, which is a lot on the road. It may feel more like a home game as the crowd is projected to be over 60% 49ers fans. The Cards will probably keep it close or even lead early on, but I'd be surprised if the 49ers don't win. 49ers 34 - Cards 24.
