We now know that Cardinal QB Carson Palmer is officially OUT for Thursday's game at San Francisco. He'll be replaced by Drew Stanton. The way Palmer has played so far this season, it's hard to say that this will be much of a downgrade for Arizona. Palmer has a sub-par 81.9 QB rating having thrown 5 interceptions in the last 2 games alone. Arizona is 1-3. Stanton's last significant action, however, came back in 2014 when he started 8 games for the Cardinals, going 5-3.
The 49ers will have their no. 1 QB in Blaine Gabbert, who comes into the game with a 73.1 rating, having thrown 4 TD's and 4 INT's while leading San Francisco to a 1-3 record.
Besides the QB's, both squads feature pretty decent rushing attacks. The 49ers are 9th in the NFL with 456 rushing yards and the Cardinals rank 14th with 403. Expect the teams to give their rushing leaders, Cardinal's David Johnson (64 carries, 300 yards, three TDs) and 49er's Carlos Hyde (73 carries, 299 yards, NFC-best five TD's) plenty of work. This strategy will likely eat up the clock and keep the score under the current 42 point total.
Defensively, the Cardinals rank 11th giving up 20.0 ppg and the 49ers yield 26.8 ppg, ranking 23rd in the category. Arizona has 9 takeaways and San Francisco 8, so it's a good bet there will be several turnovers on Thursday night. A factor that may ultimately decide what sets up to be a grinding, low scoring game.
The Calculated Relative Spread rates the Cardinals a 2.2 point favorite, but with the Vegas line currently at ARI -4, I recommend taking the 49ers +4 (1 unit).
Good luck, players!
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