Despite entering Week 11, the Arizona Cardinals have yet to play the 49ers this season. They’ll do so twice between now and January, with Monday’s game being of the utmost importance to preserving their postseason hopes.
Since these two teams last met a year ago, the 9ers have gone through a few major changes. While they did everything they could to keep the same near-NFC Champion roster intact, they did make a few key additions.
First, the team made the biggest move of the NFL trade deadline by acquiring former Panthers running back Christian McCaffrey, who has been excellent for the team to this point.
The team turned to second-year quarterback Trey Lance to take over at quarterback this season, but a season-ending injury in Week 2 has the team once again turning to Jimmy Garoppolo, who has been efficient to this point.
In the offseason, the 49ers were subject of lots of noise surrounding All-Pro receiver Deebo Samuel, who apparently requested a trade from the team. Samuel and the Niner would end up reaching an agreement on a lucrative extension.
Outside of the in-season McCaffrey deal, their only major outside addition was former Chiefs cornerback Charvarius Ward, who has been very solid for the team.
They did lose a number of helpful veterans, those being center Alex Mack, guard Laken Tomlinson and defensive tackle D.J. Jones. The departures of Tomlinson and Jones were head-scratching as the team should have plenty of cap space moving forward with their heir apparent at quarterback on a cheap deal.
This year’s team is more or less the same as last year’s, but with an All-Pro running back in the mix. They’re a physical team that are going to demand an excellent performance from the Cardinals to beat.
49ers Key Offseason Additions:
- CB Charvarius Ward
- WR Ray-Ray McCloud
- DE Drake Jackson
- WR Danny Gray
49ers Key Offseason Losses:
- C Alex Mack
- OG Laken Tomlinson
- RB Raheem Mostert
- CB K’Waun Williams
- OT Tom Compton
- DT D.J. Jones
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