Kurtenbach: The San Francisco 49ers are… healthy? My Niners-Cardinals prediction

Cardinals left tackle Paris Johnson Jr stated he s never seen anything like it The ers have Arizona couldn t practice to start the week They were forced to issue a double-sided injury statement on Friday They re banged up to high heaven leading the Arizona Republic to declare that they re the NFL s unluckiest club This is seemingly the first year that I ve been in this kind of atmosphere where it s a lot of guys going down Johnson reported this week Apparently the Cardinals have not been keeping tabs on their NFC West rivals The ers are in sitting in the back of the Unlucky Saloon holding down a table for so long they can receive mail there And they have a question for the Cardinals First time Related Articles ers roster plan from Shanahan Lynch was brash The bill is coming due ers faced an elite band in Rams and were put in their place ers Studs and Duds Little to celebrate in lopsided loss to Rams Kurtenbach My ers-Rams prediction let chaos reign ers sat out NFL bargain deadline Fans will eventually thank them Call Sunday s Niners-Cardinals showdown the Battle of Wounded Knee and Leg and Shoulder and Feet and even Appendixes You don t need NFL Next Gen Stats figures to break down this challenge you need a copy of Gray s Anatomy and a first-year resident on call Sure the Niners will be without stars down Fred Warner Nick Bosa Mykel Williams Brandon Aiyuk and perhaps even Deommodore Lenoir but at least there s specific certainty on who is in and out But only Lenoir listed as questionable as of Friday afternoon carries an injury designation going into Sunday Meanwhile the Cardinals have five players ruled out and six listed as questionable All things considered the Niners might be the healthier group coming into Sunday s encounter I can t remember the last time that happened The Niners did receive several other good news on the injury front this week Brock Purdy is returning to the starting quarterback job and Ricky Pearsall to the top receiver spot It put the ers offense in a position where they can argue they re a full squad Shout out David Lee And it couldn t come at a better time this Niners offense has to carry San Francisco to the playoff this season Seven games remain on the schedule The Niners need at least four more wins to make the postseason and they have a defense that at least last week could stop neither the run nor the pass Perhaps Arizona is so depleted that former Stanford star Michael Wilson has become the squad s No receiver for backup quarterback Jacoby Brissett that the Niners defense will receive a one-week reprieve Related Articles ers No key to domination over Cardinals Stop George Kittle s counterpart Trey McBride ers Mac Jones willingly moves into the background behind Brock Purdy Five answers to Brock Purdy s comeback as the ers starting quarterback With Christian McCaffrey s workload can ers get more use out of Brian Robinson Jr How to watch the ers vs Cardinals on Sunday Or perhaps Brissett who has been markedly better than Kyler Murray two more yards on his average target more passing yards and a touchdown more per tournament has opened up the Cardinals offense enough that Sunday s challenge will be a more fair shootout than ers-Rams Either way the Niners offensive goal this week and every week from this point onwards is simple four touchdowns or bust I think they can do it But alas I m only going after three predictions that is for Sunday s tournament Brock Purdy s mobility will shine Mac Jones did a wonderful job filling in for Purdy winning five games to put the ers in a position to fight for a playoff spot The Niners are somehow the NFL s leading passing band this campaign going into Week s battle But for all the great things Jones did during his time in the saddle one thing he did not do was threaten opposing defenses with his legs As such defenses could sell out a bit against the run and as a blitzing unit knowing that Jones would check out of bad run looks but wouldn t extend the subsequent passing plays to find the big gain much less break a man-to-man defense with a big scramble More often than not he d hit a simple slant or toss the ball to Christian McCaffrey Ignore the stats against the Rams they were barely trying after going up three scores The efficacy was waning If Purdy is healthy and he swears he is he not only challenges every area of the field with his arm but keeps defenses honest with his feet Jones is a strong system quarterback The system can only take you so far This crew demands from Brock Magic and I think it s pardon the puns in the Cards this week The ers offensive line keeps up its good play The ers tried out more gap man-to-man blocking runs against the Buccaneers Week but really committed to it against the Falcons in Week Since then the Niners run match has been ok a massive upgrade from terrible and after last Sunday s strong performance against the Rams formidable pass rush you can argue that San Francisco s much maligned offensive line is playing well It did not you will recall play well against the Cardinals when these two teams played in September The Cardinals gap-and-a-half defensive front and thumping linebackers gave the Niners real trouble But the new approach up front and improved soundness particularly at left guard should change that paradigm in the second go around I m expecting the Niners to rush for yards or better per carry on Sunday with Brian Robinson providing another nice counterpunch to McCaffrey s all-around excellence Special teams picks up the slack Much like with the Niners offensive line play the group s special teams units particularly in return and coverage have improved in up-to-date weeks with Siran Neal looking like the standout that was promised when the Niners signed him with high praise this past offseason The Cardinals I suspect will be able to move the ball on Sunday particularly from heavy two-or-three tight end sets that attack either a smaller Niners defense or linebackers that can t play in space and while the Niners will be scoring the margin might come down to the third phase of the meeting Hidden yardage the kind that s gained or lost when you re in the bathroom will prove huge in this challenge and the Niners will be on the right side of it Prediction ers Cardinals