Arizona Cardinals: Matchup vs. 49ers a must-win in Week 5

The Arizona Cardinals must win on Sunday in a Week 5 matchup against the San Francisco 49ers to revive their hopes for the 2018 season.

This Sunday in Week 5 of the 2018 season, the Arizona Cardinals have a good chance to win against the San Francisco 49ers. Arizona’s newly minted franchise quarterback, Josh Rosen, is healthy and San Francisco’s star quarterback, Jimmy Garoppolo, is on IR after tearing his ACL in Week 3. The Cardinals are now facing a must win situation on Sunday in Week 5.

Arizona had high hopes for this season throughout training camp. After four consecutive losses to begin the regular season, however, the Cardinals are searching for answers. The offense must play better to win this game against their NFC West foes.

Rosen played well in his first career start last week. He drew praise from general manager Steve Keim.

Darren Urban of AZCardinals.com reported Keim’s comments:

"“We had no clue we were going to be able to get a top-rated quarterback in this past draft picking 15th,” Keim said Friday …”I couldn’t be more excited about a young quarterback,” …"

Rosen will be facing an average pass defense in lining up across from San Francisco. The Niners give up an average 276.2 passing yards per game. He needs to transition from a gunslinger into a game manager until the offense plays more consistently. Larry Fitzgerald might have a huge game.

MUST READ: NFL Grades for each team after Week 4

David Johnson needs to get untracked in the running game. San Francisco’s run defense has been giving up an average of 104.2 yards per game. Johnson could have a big day running and catching the ball.

C.J. Beathard is the starting quarterback for San Francisco due to the injury to Garoppolo. Last Sunday, he completed 23 of 37 passes for 298 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. His passing chart on NFL.com’s Next Gen Stats speaks volumes.

Beathard threw 37 passes, but only seven to the right side of the field. Four of his passes targeted the center of the field between the hash marks. Expect Beathard to throw away from Patrick Peterson’s side of the field.

Every football game is won in the trenches. Arizona has to own the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. Hopefully, the Cardinals can dictate the flow of the game.

Third place in the NFC West is on the line. If Arizona wins, they will be third because of the head-to-head tiebreaker as both teams will have a 1-4 record. Most of all, a win gets Arizona out of last place. The Cardinals are facing an early season must win crossroad. A road victory stops the season’s free fall. Losing would make for a very long season.