The Arizona Cardinals host their NFC West division rival San Francisco 49ers for Week 8's Monday Night Football matchup, which is set to kickoff at 8:30 p.m. ET/5:30 p.m. ET.
No, Hurrican Sandy will not affect this matchup. Arizona is nowhere near the terrible weather smashing the east coast right now.
However, the Cardinals' have been weathering a storm of their own losing three consecutive games and their grip on the first place spot in the NFC West. After starting the season 4-0, the Cardinals have not been able to win a game.
They were destroyed by the St. Louis Rams in a Thursday Night Football matchup, lost a close game to the Buffalo Bills and then suffered a Week 7 loss to the Minnesota Vikings.
For the 49ers, they would love to go into their Week 9 Bye on a winning note. They are 5-2 and in possession of first place in the NFC West. With a win, they can go improve to 6-2 and increase their lead over the rest of the division.
Two of a Kind
If there are two things both teams have in common it is their lack of offense, while at the same time having a fearsome defense.
Without a doubt, the Cardinals' defense was responsible for their winning ways at the beginning of the season. They come into this game allowing the 6th fewest points per game, but their offense has had futile production in recent games. They come into Week 8 averaging just 17.7 points a game.
The 49ers are also characterized by a strong defensive team with a weak offense. They are 15th in scoring putting up 23.6 points a game. However, they have probably the stingiest defense in the NFL. They give up only 14.3 points a game, second bes tin the league.
Scoring Prediction
Because both teams are so stingy on defense, this game should be low scoring. However, the Cardinals really look like the loser in this meeting since they possess no offensive threats.
Yeah, they have Larry Fitzgerald, but there is nobody behind center who can complete passes to him and anyways, the Niners' secondary is deadly.
The 49ers have a great running game with Frank Gore and Kendall Hunter. They have the 10th best running game in the NFL averagin 98.6 yards on the ground.
The Cardinals' running defense is weak giving up just over 120 yards per game.
49ers will win 19-6.
Check out the Madden '13 Prediction brought to you by Gamenguide.com
NFC West Standing (Source: NFL.com)
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NFC West Team |
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|
5 |
2 |
0 |
|
|
4 |
3 |
0 |
|
|
4 |
4 |
0 |
|
|
3 |
5 |
0 |
