How The West Is Won – Week Three

Sep 21, 2014; Glendale, AZ, USA; Arizona Cardinals kicker Chandler Catanzaro (7) kicks a 35 yard field goal during the second half against the San Francisco 49ers at University of Phoenix Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports

Arizona Cardinals / San Francisco 49ers

The Cardinals came into this one as NFC West leaders, whilst San Francisco had a point to prove after their defeat at home to the Chicago Bears last time out.  The Niners are not the team they were, in particular on defense. Yes, Aldon Smith and Navarro Bowman will return later in the year to improve matters, but that won’t solve the issues in their secondary.  Issues which at  crunch time the Cardinals were able to exploit and move to 3-0 with a 23-14 victory.

However, this week it wasn’t Jay Cutler with the much vaulted Brandon Marshall / Alshon Jeffrey combination that proved the Niners undoing, instead it was Michael Floyd, John Brown and Drew Stanton. What stood out for me in particular though was the Cardinals run defense.  Given the players lost by the Cardinals this season and going against Frank Gore and Carlos Hyde, this should have been a huge test. But the Cardinals D was immense, holding Gore and Hyde to a combined 9 Carries in the game, meaning that Colin Kaepernick pretty much was the entire Niners offense.

In the first half the both teams were able to the ball with ease. At halftime,  the Cardinals made adjustments and  San Francisco couldn’t answer, a trait that seems repetitive in Niners games so far this year.  In the second half John Brown had himself a regular season coming out party with 2 touchdown grabs, to cement the rookie’s fast growing reputation.  Readers of this series of articles, or my followers on Twitter will have seen we suggested Michael Floyd was worth grabbing on your fantasy teams and he proved our point with 5 catches for 114 yards in the victory.

There will be tough games ahead for both of these teams. Coming into the season there was a lot of chatter concerned with whether or not  the Cardinals would  be able to step up from great season last year.  Another questions arose with the Niners. Many believed the Niners were due for a drop off, the answer to both parts on what we have seen so far, a resounding Yes!