It looked in the middle of the season like the San Francisco 49ers and Arizona Cardinals may be playing for the NFC West crown in Week 18.
The opposite turned out to be true.
Both teams are eliminated from the postseason and the NFC West standings are set with the 49ers in last place. Whichever team wins Sunday at State Farm Stadium will drop in the draft, but beyond that small consolation there isn’t a ton at stake.
We checked in with our buddy Jess Root from Cards Wire to get an idea of how Arizona’s season went and what we should be watching for from the 49ers’ final opponent of the 2024 campaign:
Niners Wire: Have the Cardinals been better or worse than you expected?
Jess Root: It’s a weird mix of both better and worse. If they win on Sunday, the 8-9 record will be exactly what I predicted back in May. Big picture, they achieved what was the best-case scenario for even the most optimistic projections — they would be better and still be not quite there.They were more inconsistent offensively than I expected. They had stretches when they were way better defensively than I expected.At 6-4, I thought they were gonna finish with 10-11 wins and win the division, and then they fell apart. So it was a roller coaster of being surprised and then fully disapointed.
NW: What are your thoughts on Marvin Harrison Jr. after Year 1?
JR: Man, he can be so good. He didn’t live up to incredibly lofty hopes for him. The projections of 1,100-1,200 yards were just too much.He looks so good at times and also has looked very much like a rookie. He has not gotten on the same page as Kyler Murray consistently. He has not been as great at contested balls as expected.But he is could flirt with 900 receiving yards. He will end up with better numbers as a rookie than his Hall of Fame father and future Hall of Famer Larry Fitzgerald. He will have nearly (if not more than) 900 yards when there he has a 100-catch, 1,100-yard teammate in Trey McBride. He will likely have the second-most receiving yards for any Cardinals rookie ever. He needs one score to match legends Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin for the most rookie touchdown catches. He’s had a pretty solid rookie campaign.I do think he needs a little more edge and “dog” to his game to take his production to the next level. He has to want the ball with the same intensity as many of the greats, at least when it comes to attacking the football coming his way. But my guess is he will be really, really good as early as next season.
NW: How hard are we rooting against the Rams in the playoffs?
JR: Yeah, it stinks when someone in the division does well, although it does bring a little satisfaction when they do more than flame out in the first round as a sort of justification for them eliminating the Cardinals.
NW: Is Kyler Murray still the long-term answer for Arizona?
JR: There is beginning to be a little bit of doubt from the public. Thus far, that doubt has not crept into the minds of the coaches. What I try to point out is that Murray’s worst is average QB play. The ceiling is there but he isn’t hitting in consistently. And he is showing he can’t be a consistent top-five guy. But he has the tools to be great year in and year out.So as for moving on, one must tread lightly because it will be hard to do better.
NW: Who do you wanna see win the Super Bowl?
JR: I’m a Patrick Mahomes fan and, as long as it isn’t a team I actively root against, historically great things are something I love to watch. I want a three-peat. I want Mahomes to prove to everyone he’s still that guy. After that, I root for players or coaches. I like Baker Mayfield. I like Dan Campbell. I like Jayden Daniels and Kliff Kingsbury. I kind of root for Russell Wilson, even though I still have issues with wanting the Steelers to be successful.
NW: Prediction for this one.
JR: Whew this could be gross. The Cardinals are missing tackles. The 49ers will have Josh Dobbs at QB, who is only a threat if he can move. If the Cardinals can’t beat Dobbs….Anyway, the Cardinals should control this game. Cardinals 27, 49ers 19
