👋 GOOD MORNING – Happy Friday! You’ve made it to the end of the week. Nice work.
College football is on tomorrow and the Cardinals play Sunday… You can decide for yourself if that’s a good or a bad thing.
A win over Kyle Shanahan and the 49ers could decide it for you, of course…
Let’s get to the matchup!
— Alex D’Agostino, PHNX Sports Daily Editor
Undermanned Cardinals Face Another Tough Division Rival
The Cardinals’ season from hell continues to look more… hellish.
On Wednesday, we got some bizarre “injury” news, as Arizona WR Marvin Harrison Jr. was announced to have been sidelined for at least the upcoming game while recovering from appendicitis. As if the Cardinals needed any more freak incidents like that.
That came with a plethora of other absences on a lengthy injury report. CB Will Johnson didn’t practice Wednesday, LB Mack Wilson Sr. has already been ruled out, and that’s still not close to the extent of the injury woes.
To avoid rattling off name after name, I’ll just say this: Arizona will be significantly undermanned for their divisional matchup with Kyle Shanahan and the 6-4 San Francisco 49ers this Sunday.
Some positive injury news: rookie DL Walter Nolen III practiced (in a limited capacity) this week. That’s a good sign after he had to be helped off the field in Seattle.
The Cardinals’ last divisional matchup was one we’d like to forget. A 44-22 beatdown by the Seahawks snuffed out all the good will gained from Arizona’s Monday Night Football victory over the Cowboys less than a week prior.
This makes Sunday a prime bounce-back opportunity, but it absolutely won’t be easy, and confidence from the Cardinals’ fandom is at a low point (and understandably so).
Shanahan and co. are always a tough matchup. The Cardinals fell 15-13 in San Francisco in the two teams’ last meeting — the loss that set a five-game streak in motion. Perhaps this is the game that ends the slide (let me be delusional, okay?).
Meanwhile, it’ll be Brock Purdy at QB for San Francisco this week. The 49ers’ starter will make his return after a lengthy injury. That may or may not be good news, considering Mac Jones beat Arizona in their last matchup, and has looked very solid in his eight starts.
Cardinals’ Depleted WR Room Presents Challenge
So, with no MHJ (appendicitis), no Zay Jones (achilles tear) and no Simi Fehoko (arm), who exactly is playing receiver for the Cardinals this week?
The answer is: Michael Wilson, Greg Dortch, Xavier Weaver and Andre Baccellia (there he is again!).
Yikes.
Not to disparage any of these players. Wilson in particular deserves more usage, more credit and more targets. But this is not the WR room the Cardinals envisioned at the beginning of the season, and for understandable reasons.
Of course, it’s always more palatable to look at a thin group of wideouts when you have a TE the caliber of Trey McBride. McBride is leading all NFL tight ends in targets this season, with 88.
He’s also second in in the NFL receiving yards this season (603) and has six TDs. Those six scores matched his previous career total, and five have come in the last four games alongside Jacoby Brissett.
I’m not trying to stir the pot, but it seems McBride has reached another level in Arizona’s offense since the QB switch was made.
That said, Brissett had his roughest start of the season against the Seahawks, completing just 50% of his passes and allowing Seattle to come away with two ugly strip-sack touchdowns.
Still, Brissett has yet to throw for less than 250 yards and fewer than two touchdowns in a game this season. The overall production has been consistent.
My X-factor for Sunday’s game:
- Get Michael Wilson Going
Yes, McBride will likely be the top option available this week, but the 49ers know that, and they’ll probably put a lot of attention in the Pro Bowl TE.
Wilson has been an extremely underrated receiver in his time with the Cardinals. Yes, everyone who covers a team regularly tends to think more highly of their role players than the rest of the NFL world, but Wilson’s true abilities have not been rewarded with much in the realm of opportunities.
He’s only managed 231 yards on 22 receptions this season. That’s been worth a yards-per-reception clip north of 10. He had his season-long reception come on a 50-yard strike against Dallas on Monday.
Wilson won’t light up the stat sheet, but he does always seem to come down with clutch receptions — fourth-down snags, downfield chunk plays and impressive contested catches.
He may not be what you’d call an X wideout, but his skillset is extremely valuable, and Arizona’s depleted state could very well force him to take advantage of more targets. When the opportunities have arisen, the results have been there.
Quick Hits
Gerry’s World: Geraldo Perdomo placed fourth in NL MVP voting, receiving three second-place votes behind you-know-who, Kyle Schwarber and Juan Soto. Corbin Carroll placed seventh, and Ketel Marte received one ninth-place vote.
In addition, Ketel Marte was named to the All-MLB first team for the second straight year, while Carroll landed on the All-MLB second team.
AND, it was announced that Carroll will play for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic. A busy night for the Snakes!
Out-Paced: The Suns took a dominant blowout victory over a depleted Indiana Pacers squad last night by a score 133-98 for their fifth straight win. Devin Booker led the way with 33 points, five rebounds and seven assists, while Dillon Brooks nearly kept up, with 32 of his own on 12-for-18 shooting. Oso Ighodaro had 17 and seven boards off the bench.
However, Grayson Allen exited the game early with a right quad contusion. He did not return. Not what you want to see…
Return of the PAC: In a rematch of one of the better Pac-12 rivalries, the No. 5-ranked Arizona men’s basketball will take on Mick Cronin and the No. 15 UCLA Bruins in Los Angeles tonight at 8:00 p.m.
The Cats are undefeated on the young season after taking a 35-point win over NAU on Tuesday. The Bruins are 3-0, but with relatively thin margins of victory over three less-than-potent teams.
Tip of the Hat by Branded Bills
This is pretty awesome.
