The Arizona Cardinals won just five games last season but played the San Francisco 49ers hard, losing by a combined 13 points between the two matchups. The Cardinals actually had a lead heading into the fourth quarter of the Week 11 matchup in Santa Clara and could have come away with a victory in either of the two games.
The 49ers had the No. 2 ranked rushing attack last season and dominated in two playoff games on the way to Super Bowl LIV. Fullback Kyle Juszczyk spoke with reporters on Friday and explained why the Cardinals might view the Niners differently than the rest of the league, though.
"Kyle (Shanahan) made a point of it today," Juszczyk said. "We went through a bunch of really impressive stats of what we did as a team running the ball last year. All these different records we set. Our averages per game, averaging 200 yards per game in the playoffs, all those kinds of things."
That wasn't the case against Arizona, though.
"But he kind of summed it all up with Arizona only knows us as the team that ran for, I think, a hundred yards (101) in the first game against them and like 30 yards (34) against them in the second game. So, they don't look at us as the team that had three different running backs that averaged like six yards per carry and all that kind of stuff. They see us as a team that they were able to kind of shut down in the run game and a team that they played very well against.
"We just feel like they did a good job of moving guys around a lot, bringing a lot of pressure, that sort of thing, and kind of moving guys off the rules. They had a good game plan for us in both matchups, but we're looking to fare a little bit better this time."
San Francisco is currently listed as a 6.5-point favorite over Arizona. The two teams — air quality permitting — are scheduled to kick off Sunday at 1:25 p.m. from a fan-less Levi's Stadium.