Cardinals vs. 49ers: Full Arizona Game Preview

The Arizona Cardinals have a date with a familiar foe as they take on the San Francisco 49ers in Northern California on Sunday afternoon.

This will be the second meeting of the season for the NFC West rivals. Arizona claimed victory in the first meeting with a 47-7 trouncing of the 49ers in Week 3.

The Cardinals are coming off of their most significant win of the season to date, a 34-31 win over the Cincinnati Bengals. After a soft schedule, the win over Cincinnati proved Arizona is ready for the league's stiffest competition. 

San Francisco, meanwhile, is coming off of a 29-13 loss against the Seattle Seahawks in Week 11. The loss dropped their record to 3-7 on the season, 1-1 with new quarterback Blaine Gabbert under center.

Click ahead for the full midweek preview, including a look at Arizona's lengthy and slightly frightening injury report.

Date: Sunday, Nov. 29

Location: Levi's Stadium; Santa Clara, California

Time: 4:05 p.m. ET

TV: Fox

Latest News and Notes

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Cardinals looking for first win in San Francisco since 2008

Arizona has returned empty0handed from their previous six trips to San Francisco, and they're ready to end that trend. According to Darren Urban of the team's official website, Carson Palmer said that's been a topic of conversation this week.

You try not to make division games mean more, but long losing streaks to a rival will nag at a franchise, even if the fans and owners are the only ones around for the entirety of the streak. A win on Sunday would be a nice thing for the team to cross off its checklist and would provide a nice boost for the fanbase.

Honey Badger thinks Gabbert is better than Kaepernick

According to Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com, Tyrann Mathieu told reporters on Wednesday he thinks Blaine Gabbert is an upgrade at quarterback over Colin Kaepernick. "That’s not to take anything away from Kaepernick, but it seems like Gabbert has a little bit better grip on what’s going on. If he gets in a situation, he knows where the ball needs to go. He’s a hell of a passer. I think he’s underrated when you talk about how well he can throw the football."

Neither quarterback has been great for San Francisco this season, but Gabbert does have better numbers. He holds the edge in completion percentage (62.7 percent to 59.0) and yards per game (224.5 to 179.4) while also representing a slim upgrade in touchdown-to-interception ratio (3/2 to 6/5).

Of course, the big story of the week is the length of the Cardinals' injury report. Click ahead to the next slide for the rundown. 

Key Injuries

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The Arizona Cardinals released their initial Week 12 injury report following Wednesday's practice. It remains lengthy and alarming.

Here's a look at some of the key injuries.

Patrick Peterson

Peterson left last week's game midway through the fourth quarter with an ankle injury, and was unable to practice on Wednesday. According to Fox Sports 910's Mike Jurecki, Peterson's status remains up in the air for Sunday.

Peterson being injured is worrisome, but if he has to miss a game this season, this is the one to miss. San Francisco simply doesn't have the firepower to take advantage of his absence. If Peterson does miss out on Sunday, expect him back in the lineup against St. Louis in Week 13. 

John Brown and Michael Floyd

Both players have hamstring issues, with Floyd practicing in a limited fashion on Wednesday and Brown missing out. Those roles were reversed against Cincinnati last Sunday, with Brown playing and Floyd sitting out.

Floyd suiting up on Wednesday bodes well for his availability against San Francisco, while Arizona is likely playing it safe with Brown for now. Expect both to play.

Jonathan Cooper and Mike Iupati

Both players practiced on Wednesday, although Bruce Arians told SiriusXM NFL Radio he wasn't sure if Cooper would be able to play on Sunday (h/t ESPN's Josh Weinfuss).

Cooper wasn't able to play against Cincinnati, while Iupati played through what appeared to be significant discomfort. Ted Larsen and Earl Watford will again be waiting to step up if either or both can't play against San Francisco. 

Cory Redding, Frostee Rucker and Ed Stinson

Via Jurecki again, it appears all three will not play against San Francisco, meaning Arizona's depth along the defensive line will be tested.

Rodney Gunter, Xavier Williams and Josh Mauro will have to play a big role against the 49ers to make up for the absence of Redding and Rucker in particular. The good news is that Calais Campbell remains pretty good at football. 

Key Matchup

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Arizona vs. Itself

Is that cheating? You bet. Does it make it any less true? Nope.

The season is far too advanced for Arizona to make heavy weather of this matchup. There would be simply no excusing a loss to San Francisco this weekend.

The only way the 49ers can hang around in this game is if the Cardinals let them.

Arizona's primary goal on Sunday should be to not beat itself. The offense can't turn the ball over, and the defense must remain disciplined for 60 minutes.

Despite the team's success this year, those are worthwhile goals for a Cardinals team that has been prone to unreasonably sloppy moments. In fact, those are the kind of goals that can help the team stay engaged against an inferior team.

This may be the NFL and "any given Sunday" might just be true, but even on Blaine Gabbert's best day, The Cardinals should be able to beat this 49ers team. Can they avoid beating themselves?

3 Things to Watch

Rick Scuteri/Associated Press

Can Arizona get Chris Johnson going again?

After an explosive start to the season, Johnson has fallen flat. He's failed to average better than 3.6 yards per carry over the past three games, and his longest play from scrimmage over that time is 13 yards.

Johnson's listed as having a knee injury on the weekly injury report, but there's no reason to believe he's in danger of missing Sunday's game. Can Arizona's offensive line help him find regain his legs? If not, Andre Ellington or David Johnson may just get an opportunity to stake a claim for the lead running back job.

The young defensive linemen

Thanks to a rash of injures along the defensive line, we should see plenty of Rodney Gunter, Josh Mauro and Xavier Williams on Sunday. Frostee Rucker is 32 and Cory Redding is 35, so it's possible those three are the future of Arizona's defensive line.

Gunter and Mauro have flashed in their limited playing time. It'll be interesting to see how they perform when they receive a bit more attention from the opposition's offensive line. 

Does J.J. Nelson have an encore planned?

Nelson broke out in a big way against Cincinnati last week, catching four passes for 142 yards and two scores. Now it's up to the rookie to force Bruce Arians to include him in the game plan each week.

Playing time may be hard to come by if Michael Floyd returns from injury, but there's always room on the field for a receiver who can take the top off the defense. Let's see if Arians gives him another shot, and if Nelson can deliver again.

Prediction: Arizona 31, San Francisco 13

Rick Scuteri/Associated Press

Arizona won the first matchup between these two teams 47-7, and there's no reason to expect this game to be much closer. As long as the Cardinals are focused, they should have no trouble putting this game to bed before the fourth quarter.

Carson Palmer should have no trouble moving the ball against a defense allowing the fifth-most yards per game in the league. In Week 3, he threw for 311 yards and two touchdowns.

While Colin Kaepernick is no longer the 49ers' starting quarterback, we'd be remiss if we didn't mention the role Arizona's defense played in the Week 3 destruction of San Francisco. If you'll recall, San Francisco's first two drives ended with interceptions returned for touchdowns.

Stranger things have happened, but Arizona has this one in the bag.

Final score: Arizona 31, San Francisco 13