The Arizona Cardinals’ final game of the season is Sunday at State Farm Stadium against the San Francisco 49ers. The Cardinals are 7-9. The Niners are 6-10.
The 49ers will have Josh Dobbs starting at quarterback as Brock Purdy injured his elbow last week. Kyler Murray will play for Arizona but has backup tackles with Kelvin Beachum on the left side and rookie Christian Jones making his first NFL start at right tackle.
The Cardinals are favored in this game and beat the 49ers once already this season. The Cardinals are 1-5 in their last six games. The 49ers are 1-6 in their last seven.
Who will finish victorious?
Below are the expert picks and predictions of the Cards Wire staff for this Week 18 showdown.
49ers at Cardinals Week 18 picks and predictions
Jess Root
Whew this could be gross. The Cardinals are missing tackles. The 49ers will have Josh Dobbs at QB, who is only a threat if he can move. If the Cardinals can’t beat Dobbs….
Anyway, the Cardinals should control this game.
Cardinals 27, 49ers 19
Howard Balzer
A few weeks ago, we chronicled the Cardinals’ lack of success during recent seasons in December or January. It’s even more bleak when only division games are considered. The Cardinals have lost 11 consecutive NFC West games in the final two months with the last victory in Seattle (27-13) on Dec. 22, 2019. That 11 figure is also the number of consecutive home losses in December or January. The most recent one of those was on Dec. 8, 2013, when the Cardinals defeated the St. Louis Rams, 30-10. Meanwhile, the last time the Cardinals defeated the 49ers late in the season was 21-19 at home on Dec. 11, 2011. Since then, the 49ers have won six consecutive December/January games over the Cardinals. The details of that 2011 game are irrelevant to Sunday’s game, but I’m compelled to pass them along.
Kevin Kolb opened the game for the Cardinals at quarterback, but suffered a concussion on a sack on the team’s third play of the game and was replaced by John Skelton. The 49ers went ahead 19-7 early in the third quarter on a 37-yard run by Frank Gore, but a 46-yard touchdown pass to Larry Fitzgerald (7-149 in the game) later in that quarter made the score 19-14. The winning points came on a 3-yard pass to Andre Roberts with 11:50 to play. After the Gore touchdown, the 49ers had six possessions and five straight three-and-outs, totaling 41 yards on 19 plays. Skelton completed 19 of 28 passes for 282 yards and three touchdowns for a passer rating of 106.5. Alex Smith was San Francisco’s quarterback and the head coaches were Ken Whisenhunt and Jim Harbaugh.
So, the question is whether all those streaks will end Sunday. They can, but will they? It says here they will even with the ghost of Joshua Dobbs returning to State Farm Stadium.
Cardinals 24, 49ers 17
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