Cohn Zohn Podcast: Week 1 vs. Cardinals is Must Win for 49ers

Training camp ended this past Sunday, and the 49ers' first game of the regular season will be the following Sunday Sept. 13 at home against the Arizona Cardinals.

Here's what Grant and Lowell discuss on this week's episode of The Cohn Zohn as the regular season approaches:

1. Is Week 1 against the Cardinals a must-win game?

Lowell says it is must win for a few reasons: The 49ers are the better team, they're at home and they have two weeks to prepare. It's like a Super Bowl in that sense. And they have a brilliant coaching staff. If they lose a game when they have all those advantages, it sends shudders and shock waves through the organization.

2. Kyle Shanahan and Robert Saleh's different styles of coaching.

Grant says Saleh is auditioning for head-coaching jobs when he speaks about offense and quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo in particular. And Saleh is upbeat because that's his nature. Shanahan is much more stingy with his praise because he's not auditioning for a head-coaching, plus it's his nature to be stingy with praise. He and Saleh complement each other well.

3. Arik Armstead's Academic Project.

During a recent video conference with Bay Area reporters, Armstead read from a New York Times article about educational inequality in America and the importance of literacy. He advocated for the importance of voting in local elections for positions such as mayor, city councilman and district attorney. Plus he has started a charity called Armstead's Academic Project, which encourages kids to read. Armstead actually reads to them himself. Armstead is such an impressive person.

4. How Shanahan's demeanor has changed since training camp began.

From a far, Lowell sees Shanahan early in training camp as being open, almost a little playful (although he's not a very playful person), talking at length about things, enjoying the interaction with the writers. As we get closer to the season, Shanahan strikes Lowell as inward, verging on gloomy and intense. He leans over. He doesn't shave. He looks like he just came out of a cave. He's 100-percent consumed by his job.

5. How the media will cover home games from Levi's Stadium in 2020.

Instead of sitting in the press box this year, the media will sit in the empty stands of Levi's Stadium.

So for the first time, Grant will have a game with a soundtrack when he covers it. He no longer will only see the game, now he will hear it, too.

Listen to the full podcast here.

Watch the full podcast below.