San Francisco 49ers @ Arizona Cardinals
Sunday, November 16th, 4:05 PM ET
The San Francisco 49ers and Arizona Cardinals are both coming off blowout losses to the LA Rams and Seattle Seahawks, respectively. All four NFC West teams play each other here in Week 11, and the 49ers and Cardinals are obviously the bottom two teams in the division, but the Niners have been good this year.
While 6-4, the Niners have dealt with a ton of injuries this year but do have a very soft schedule, so that’s kind of why they’ve been able to win 60% of their games thus far. Still in a position to make the playoffs, the Niners might only have to win three or four of their remaining games to get into the postseason.
But, oddly enough, Brock Purdy has missed most of this season with a toe injury, so it’s actually been Mac Jones with the bulk of the production thus far. On the flip side, the Cardinals are starting Jacoby Brissett, as Kyler Murray has a foot injury, and it also seems like the Cardinals did one of those soft-benches with their former starting QB.
Beyond 2025, it is not a guarantee that Murray is with the Cardinals, and I bet they trade him. If nothing else, Brissett is a functional QB and can be the 20th-best passer in the league on any given week.
He’s nothing special, but he does typically get the job done and never really puts the ball in harm’s way. However, even with the 49ers starting their own backup QB in Mac Jones, they are, unquestionably, the better team and should win this one.
Somehow, the Niners have a realistic path to seven wins in their first 11 games, and that would be significant, as they won just six games all of 2024, so this team is right on the cusp of improving their win total from 2024.
The Niners win by eight points and again rebound off a loss.