The Arizona Cardinals are the only team in the NFC that’s still without a single defeat after four weeks. Their divisional foes would like nothing better than to end the Cards’ winning streak. The big question is can the Niners pull it off?
Judging by what we’ve seen so far from the San Francisco team, it’s going to be hard. Their 2-2 record surely isn’t giving them much confidence. Still, even if they’ve been more successful, they’d still be big underdogs against the Cardinals. Why? Because the Cards have been sensational so far!
Cardinals Still Unbeaten
The Cards are the only team in their conference that still has a 100% record. What’s even more impressive is that Arizona’s opponents in the past four games were some really tough teams. In Week 1, they beat the Tennessee Titans, one of the NFL’s best offenses.
In Week 2, they were a little bit lucky to get a win against the Minnesota Vikings – the Vikings placekicker missed a field goal in the last second of the game.
The Cards then destroyed the Jacksonville Jaguars, which was expected as the Jags are one of the worst teams in the league. What wasn’t expected was the Cardinals’ win against the Rams at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles.
Despite entering that game as an underdog, Arizona ended up winning 37-20. That was the first time the Rams conceded 37 points or more since 2019.
The obvious question is how come are the Cards so good in the offense? The answer is that they have Kyler Murray.
Arizona Cardinals Roster Outlook
Before the start of the 2021 NFL season, Patrick Mahomes and Aaron Rodgers were the top two favorites for the MVP title. Arizona’s starting quarterback was nowhere near them. However, things have changed – Kyler Murray is the current #1 MVP favorite at +500.
The Cardinals’ third-year quarterback has been nothing short of sensational this season. His passer rating is 76.1 percent at the moment, which is significantly higher than his career rating of 66.9 percent.
In the four games he’s played so far, Murray passed for 1,273 yards and 9 touchdowns, with just 4 interceptions. On top of that, he also did very well rushing-wise, scoring 3 touchdowns on his own. Thanks to Murray, Arizona was able to score 140 points in four games, which is more than any other team in the entire league.
Of course, football is a team game, meaning that even such an amazing player as Murray would not be able to do anything without help from his teammates.
A.J. Green, DeAndre Hopkins, Christian Kirk, and Rondale Moore have been terrific when it comes to receiving. When it comes to rushing, two running backs, Chase Edmonds and James Conner have been doing a pretty good job.
On top of everything, Arizona’s defense has also been superb. The fact that they’ve conceded only 85 points so far shows just how good they’ve been.
Match Predictions and Odds
Right now, Arizona looks unstoppable. This goes especially because the Cards are playing at home, against a rival that hasn’t been impressive so far. In fact, with a 2-2 record and a score difference of 107-102, the Niners aren’t in a good spot right now.
Another bad news for the San Francisco team is that their starting quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo is still struggling with an injury. What this means is that we might see rookie Trey Lance starting the game against the Cardinals.
Knowing all this, it’s only logical to assume the Cardinals are going to win this game with ease. By this, we mean that they will cover the 7-point spread, for which the odds are -110.
Pick: Arizona Cardinals -6.5 (-110)
