49ers Week 8 Preview vs. Cardinals

Here we go! It’s a rematch of a terrible game we all witnessed a few weeks back. Aren’t you excited? The next few games will be against equally bad teams, so brace for it!

The Arizona Cardinals came into Levi’s Stadium and absolutely stunned the San Francisco 49ers. The worst part? The Cardinals were winless prior to that game. They forced turnover after turnover after turnover, you get the point. The 49ers couldn’t keep the ball on offense. Their defense was much better after the first play in which they allowed a 70-yard touchdown bomb, but the Arizona offense was equally bad.

The 49ers tried to mount a comeback, but of course, they turned the ball over and it resulted in a Cardinals touchdown on the recovery. The game finished 28-18, but it really felt more lopsided than it was.

How will things be this time around?

It’s going to be tough to predict this one, but 49ers fans may already feel how this game is headed, based off the past few weeks. C.J. Beathard and the offense have been terrible at keeping the ball. It’s like every other possession they gift the opposition the ball. San Francisco’s offense has the worst turnover differential in the entire league. They can’t keep the ball and the defense can’t takeaway the ball.

It also doesn’t help that the defense is allowing opposing offense’s to put up 31.1 points per game, which ranks 31st in the league. How that isn’t the 32nd ranked number is baffling, but there is a reason why. Stop turning the ball over! Then the defense doesn’t have to go back out there after a two minute rest only to concede more points.

Offense

For the 49ers, C.J. Beathard will remain the starting quarterback. As Kyle Shanahan said himself, Beathard is the “best quarterback in the building”, which means the building doesn’t have many talented quarterbacks. I admire Beathard’s toughness just as much as the next guy, but he still has many problems that counter that. Lack of awareness in the pocket is just one of those. Sliding is something he doesn’t know how to do, either.

Last time out, Beathard threw 54 passes for 349 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. He did have a rushing touchdown, too.

Matt Breida got injured in that game, but that’s been the problem almost every game. Alfred Morris ended up getting 18 carries, resulting in 61 yards. Breida had eight carries for 56 yards before being taken out. I don’t see the point of playing him now until he’s fully healthy, so expect Raheem Mostert to start getting more touches. He’s been very solid these last two weeks rushing the ball.

George Kittle and Kyle Juszczyk will be the go-to targets, like they have been because the receivers are having a very tough time getting catches. Trent Taylor did get a touchdown catch against Arizona, but the receiving group has been to inconsistent to expect much out of them.

Defense

The 49ers have one of the worst defenses in the league, no doubt. The stats may not be clearly evident of that, but if you watch, you know. They lined up three men on the defensive line in a goal-line situation last week against a team with Todd Gurley in the backfield. That’s all you need to know as to where this team is at.

They played fairly decent against Arizona the first time, but Josh Rosen was 10/25 on his throws. If that 75 yard touchdown to Christian Kirk doesn’t happen, he looks way worse. David Johnson was held to a very quiet game, besides the two goal-to-go touchdowns he earned.

If the offense didn’t give up the ball as much times as they did the first match up, the Cardinals would still be without a win. But here we are, gearing for a game between two 1-6 teams. Two bad teams may equal a good game, who knows.

Prediction: 49ers 20, Cardinals 27. Prove me wrong, please.

– Sanjesh Singh is the managing editor for the San Francisco 49ers on Full Press Coverage He covers the NFL. Like and follow on Follow @TheSanjeshSingh Follow @FPC_49ers and Facebook.