Why the 49ers Think the Cardinals are a Really Good Team

SANTA CLARA -- The 49ers and the Cardinals played each other Week 4 at Levi's Stadium, and the 49ers won 35-16. On paper, the game wasn't close.

But with 4:17 left in the third quarter, the score was 21-16 Cardinals. It was a close game for a long time. And that was when Arizona's quarterback was Josh Dobbs.

Now their quarterback is Kyler Murray, who has returned from a torn ACL. Murray is much, much better than Dobbs. In addition, the Cardinals have All Pro safety Budda Baker, who missed the Week 4 game against the 49ers. With Murray and Baker on the field, the Cardinals are 2-2 and they're playing with confidence.

Here's what key 49ers coaches and players said this week about the Cardinals.

STEVE WILKS: "I would tell you first off, do not look at their record. These guys are pretty good. I commend the whole coaching staff and how they’ve gotten these guys prepared each week and ready to play. You look at that talent level across the board, [Arizona Cardinals QB] Kyler [Murray] is back and we know he's a big play ready to happen at any moment. [Arizona Cardinals RB James] Conner's still running the ball extremely hard. [Arizona Cardinals WR] Rondale [Moore], [Arizona Cardinals WR Marquise Brown] Hollywood can take the top off at any time. They're doing a little bit more with Rondale, putting him in the backfield. He's running the football well. And the offensive line is doing a great job protecting. So, I've told the guys all week, we're going to have to go earn this one."

KYLE SHANAHAN: "I’ve got a lot of respect of how they've done this year. I thought they were real tough at the beginning of the year. I thought we had to play flawless on offense to beat them, but that was a real tight game. Since then they have how many ever games it is, nine more games of reps. They're playing very hard, they're playing together. They've added some really good players, especially [Arizona Cardinals S] Budda [Baker] who they didn't have. I think they've always been real talented on special teams. They've also gotten a very great talented quarterback back. They remind me a lot of us our first year where we started out 0-9 and finished 6-10. I think everything they're doing is the right way and I think they're a real tough football team."

NICK BOSA: "They're 2-2 with Kyler Murray and they could have easily won those other games. They beat Pittsburgh who has a really good defense. They're really moving in the right direction as an organization."

DEEBO SAMUEL: "If you look at their defense, it's the urgency. Everybody is running to the ball. There's not a lot of space out there. If you look at their last four games, you can say they're 2-2, but in reality they should be 3-1. If you go and watch the Houston game, you'll see how well Kyler and those boys were playing and how fast and physical their defense was flying around the ball."

FRED WARNER: "They've gotten a lot better. Kyler obviously gives them that extra element. He's a really outstanding player. Their team as a whole has played more physical with more effort, way better than I've seen in the past. Their head coach, whatever he has them doing over there, he's doing a great job, because it screams through the tape exactly who they are. They look a lot like us."

GEORGE KITTLE: "Arizona is a team that, if you look at the tape recently, they've upset some teams. Have they lost some games? Yeah, sure. They have a new coaching staff, but if you watch the tape right now, they are flying around and they're playing the defense that their coach wants them to play and they're playing it at a really high level. It's completely different from almost any other defense you see in the league, how they're doing all their coverages, how they're using Budda Baker. And then when you throw a guy like Budda into their defense and they're all on it, they're playing really really good defense. They have a great run defense, they do a lot of weird stuff in the pass game, so we're going to be on our stuff to play a good game. The last time we played them, Brock was 24 of 25, so we have to be pretty damn efficient. That's the goal for us -- continue to be efficient, convert on third down and just stay on the field."

CHRISTIAN McCAFFREY: "The record is one thing, but I don't look at them as a 3-10 team at all. They play hard, they're fast, they run to the ball extremely well. Obviously, Budda Baker, I have the utmost respect for him. They're a really good team and can hurt you in a lot of different ways."