San Francisco 49ers O 36½
I am taking advantage of this extremely low posted total. First of all, this 49ers/Cardinals clash is being played in the desert out in Phoenix which will feature some of the NFL's best weather conditions at this time of the year. I still remember the first clash between these two squads which ended up 31-28 in OT at San Francisco. In that contest, the 49ers recovered from a massive 16 point deficit with LESS than 5:00 minutes remaining on the clock! It is easy to see why this posted total is so low this afternoon as the injury-ravaged 49ers will be playing without both their starting quarterback (Tim Rattay) and lead rusher (Kevan Barlow). However, since the 49ers are one of the few NFC teams that actually is not still in the playoff hunt, today gives some reserves a great OPPORTUNITY to prove themselves for next season. QB Ken Dorsey already has appeared in FIVE different games so far this season and has managed to complete 53-PERCENT of his passes. In recent weeks, RB Maurice Hicks has been receiving many more carries mainly due to the discontent of Barlow who blamed head coach Dennis Erickson for not allowing him to "pick his own holes" to run through. Another reason why this posted total is so low is due to the fact that Arizona has had severe problems finding the endzone in recent weeks which is stunning since offensive minded Dennis Green is their head coach. I was just 3 weeks ago when Green decided to give some other quarterbacks in his rotation an opportunity to prove themselves which brought the offense to a grinding halt. In two games under the direction of Shaun King the Cards averaged just EIGHT points per pop. Last week Green turned to third-stringer John Navarre who is now OUT for the next 2 Sunday's with a finger injury which gives orginal starter Josh McCown another OPPORTUNITY. Arizona actually was on a WINNING streak when McCown got lifted but he threw for only 129 and 90 yards respectively in wins against the Dolphins and Giants. It is becoming apparent that one most show extreme patience when attempting to develop a rookie signal-caller in the NFL. I understand that Green does NOT question McCown's work ethic and actually feels the youngster still has a bright future in this league. Basically the Cards see the same thing in McCown as the Chargers saw in Drew Brees and you know how long it took for Brees to finally click in the pros. Not only does Arizona get their starting QB back by default, they also may get back their LEADING RUSHER as Emmitt Smith (679 YR) was upgraded to questionable after missing two weeks with a toe injury. Arizona still has tremendous SPEED at the wide receiver slot highlighted by Anquan Boldin and Larry Fitzgerald. The main reason why San Francisco enters today's game with just ONE victory is because injuries have completely taken away their entire starting defensive secondary. The defensive woes continued unabated last week when LB Brandon Moore was carted off the field. After unloading a ton of offensive starts because of the dreaded salary cap, the strength of the 49ers was supposed to be their defense but injuries have stymied that unit. San Francisco just happens to be 7-1 OVER against poor offenses that average LESS than 17 points per game. Meanwhile, Arizona is 6-1 OVER the past 3 seasons against terrible teams who win LESS than 25% of their games!
GOOD LUCK
I am taking advantage of this extremely low posted total. First of all, this 49ers/Cardinals clash is being played in the desert out in Phoenix which will feature some of the NFL's best weather conditions at this time of the year. I still remember the first clash between these two squads which ended up 31-28 in OT at San Francisco. In that contest, the 49ers recovered from a massive 16 point deficit with LESS than 5:00 minutes remaining on the clock! It is easy to see why this posted total is so low this afternoon as the injury-ravaged 49ers will be playing without both their starting quarterback (Tim Rattay) and lead rusher (Kevan Barlow). However, since the 49ers are one of the few NFC teams that actually is not still in the playoff hunt, today gives some reserves a great OPPORTUNITY to prove themselves for next season. QB Ken Dorsey already has appeared in FIVE different games so far this season and has managed to complete 53-PERCENT of his passes. In recent weeks, RB Maurice Hicks has been receiving many more carries mainly due to the discontent of Barlow who blamed head coach Dennis Erickson for not allowing him to "pick his own holes" to run through. Another reason why this posted total is so low is due to the fact that Arizona has had severe problems finding the endzone in recent weeks which is stunning since offensive minded Dennis Green is their head coach. I was just 3 weeks ago when Green decided to give some other quarterbacks in his rotation an opportunity to prove themselves which brought the offense to a grinding halt. In two games under the direction of Shaun King the Cards averaged just EIGHT points per pop. Last week Green turned to third-stringer John Navarre who is now OUT for the next 2 Sunday's with a finger injury which gives orginal starter Josh McCown another OPPORTUNITY. Arizona actually was on a WINNING streak when McCown got lifted but he threw for only 129 and 90 yards respectively in wins against the Dolphins and Giants. It is becoming apparent that one most show extreme patience when attempting to develop a rookie signal-caller in the NFL. I understand that Green does NOT question McCown's work ethic and actually feels the youngster still has a bright future in this league. Basically the Cards see the same thing in McCown as the Chargers saw in Drew Brees and you know how long it took for Brees to finally click in the pros. Not only does Arizona get their starting QB back by default, they also may get back their LEADING RUSHER as Emmitt Smith (679 YR) was upgraded to questionable after missing two weeks with a toe injury. Arizona still has tremendous SPEED at the wide receiver slot highlighted by Anquan Boldin and Larry Fitzgerald. The main reason why San Francisco enters today's game with just ONE victory is because injuries have completely taken away their entire starting defensive secondary. The defensive woes continued unabated last week when LB Brandon Moore was carted off the field. After unloading a ton of offensive starts because of the dreaded salary cap, the strength of the 49ers was supposed to be their defense but injuries have stymied that unit. San Francisco just happens to be 7-1 OVER against poor offenses that average LESS than 17 points per game. Meanwhile, Arizona is 6-1 OVER the past 3 seasons against terrible teams who win LESS than 25% of their games!
GOOD LUCK
