Cardinals @ 49ers Week 18 Game Preview
The 49ers will be fine-tuning on both sides of the ball for a playoffs run while the division rival Cardinals are likely evaluating players for the future.
Cardinals at 49ers
The top and bottom of the NFC West square off in this game, with the Cardinals traveling to take on the 49ers. This should give San Francisco an opportunity to fine-tune both sides of the ball as they look to make a run in the playoffs. The 49ers are currently double-digit favorites and are actually getting healthier for this game.
San Francisco has won nine straight games and they can secure the #2 seed in the NFC with one more victory. Arizona has lost eight of their last nine and could be heading for an overhaul of their coaching staff this offseason.
The Arizona offense will be without DeAndre Hopkins and will have David Blough under center again this week. The offense wasn’t a total disaster with Blough at the helm, as both Marquise Brown and Trey McBride had solid performances. Brown enters this week in the WR3 conversation, while McBride is nothing but a deep dart throw at TE. James Conner has also been ruled out already, which means the backfield work will fall to Corey Clement and Keaontay Ingram. I was a fan of Ingram coming out of college and the team should want to evaluate their young talent so he is the one I am interested in from a DFS perspective and I wouldn’t be surprised if he finds his way into a couple of my lineups.
The 49ers are playing for seeding and to continue building chemistry in their offense with Brock Purdy running the show. The rookie QB should have close to his full array of weapons available this week, with Deebo Samuel returning and Christian McCaffrey cleared to play. Also close to returning is RB Elijah Mitchell, who will provide excellent depth for their playoff run and could see plenty of work in this game if he is active and San Francisco can get out to a big lead.
The Arizona defense has struggled to slow opposing offenses all year and ranks in the bottom three against opposing RBs and TEs. While the 49ers should be able to do anything they want offensively, we know they like to run the ball and we know Purdy likes throwing to his TEs, which just so happens to line up with the easiest path to beating Arizona. As a result, McCaffrey is the RB1 in the Fantasy Life ranks this week while Kittle checks in at the TE2. There is some risk that San Francisco pulls their starters early in the second half but if they do, they have likely already put a lot of points on the board.
San Francisco seems to be peaking at the right time for their playoff push and should get a comfortable home win against their division rivals. However, the double digit spread makes me a little bit nervous. I already mentioned the possibility of the 49ers resting players in the second half, which could allow Arizona to pick up points in garbage time. Assuming they emerge relatively healthy from this game, the 49ers will be one of the hottest teams in the NFL heading into the playoffs and a good candidate to emerge from the NFC if you are placing futures bets.