The Arizona Cardinals will clash against the San Francisco 49ers in Week 12 of the National Football League. One team is cruising at the top of the division, while the other is sitting at the bottom of the pile. Who will get the win? Let'us find out on Sunday, Nov. 29.
Start Time: 4:05 p.m. ET
Location: Levi's Stadium, Santa Clara, CA
TV Channel: FOX
Live Stream: http://www.nfl.com/watch-nfl-live
Inter-division rivals, the two teams are on the opposite ends of the standings. The Cardinals have a good record at 8-2, while Niners have only 3-7 pip in their first 10 games of the season.
Arizona crushed San Francisco the last time they met back in Week 3. Arizona won the game with the final score of 47-7. Since then, many things happened for the Niners. Their quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who threw four picks during the game, will not play for the rest of the season due to shoulder injury. Blaine Gabbert is now taking his place to lead San Francisco.
49ers are on a rebuilding stage as Kaepernick is now on a reserve status and other players will move to other teams soon.
This current season has been a disaster for 49ers. They only won against the Minnesota Vikings, Baltimore Ravens and Atlanta Falcons. Recently, they lost against another division rival the Seattle Seahawks. The team clearly lacks the direction and depth as they head towards the end of the season.
In addition to Kaepernick, Carlos Hyde won't be playing in the Sunday's matchup. Some analysts said this would negatively affect the offense of 49ers as a whole.
For Cardinals, they have to re-establish the run to win the game. Chris Johnson made over 100 yards four times in a six-game stretch, giving balance to the league's top-scoring offense.
Furthermore, 49ers are dealing with a number of injured players. The Cardinals have to apply pressure by making aggressive plays to test the young and inexperienced players of 49ers.
Carson Palmer can do amazing things for Arizona. He leads the league with 27 touchdown passes and has a number of options in the passing game.
One of the key matchups for Sunday's game is Blaine Gabbert vs. Tyrann Mathieu.
Tyrann Mathieu of Arizona was a headache for Kaepernick in their latest game. Mathieu had two interceptions, one returned for a touchdown.
However, the defensive player of Arizona said Gabbert was doing a much better offense for San Francisco compare to 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," Mattieu said in an interview.
Arizona aims to grab their fifth straight and make a statement as they are on a two-game road trip as they prepare to face rivals the Niners and St. Louis Rams.
For San Francisco 49ers, they want to make a perfect performance in front of their loyal fanbase.
