The San Francisco 49ers are not looking past their next opponent, the 1-2 Arizona Cardinals. That one win came this past weekend against the favored Dallas Cowboys, a team, like the Niners, with championship aspirations.
The Cardinals may be looking up at the Niners in the NFC West standings, but inside the 49ers locker room, players see a team with a lot of fight. San Francisco is a two-touchdown favorite, but the team won't take its foot off the gas this weekend.
"They had every chance to win versus Washington in Week 1," head coach Kyle Shanahan said Wednesday. "I believe that they should have. I forget the exact score, but I want to say it was like 27-7 in the third quarter versus the Giants, and they had every chance to win that, and it got away from them at the end.
"Dallas was very similar, but they didn't turn it over there at the end, and they kept finishing and keeping them out of the red zone and ended up not being close. So, they're a team that really should be 3-0 right now."
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Players had the weekend off thanks to the 49ers playing last Thursday night. It allowed defensive end Nick Bosa to watch Arizona's win over Dallas on television. It was the star pass rusher's first time watching either team this season.
"Arizona looked like a really solid team that was playing harder than Dallas," Bosa told reporters on Wednesday.
That makes the Cardinals a very dangerous opponent. The Cardinals desperately need another win if they hope to keep pace in the NFC West.
"Obviously, any team can be beat on any given Sunday, and that's what happened," safety Tashaun Gipson said. "But I don't think it's like a Cinderella story. They're actually a solid football team. They're running the ball effectively. The quarterback is playing good football. The defense is bend, don't break. So they're playing good football right now.
"When you really watch the tape, they [were] the more physical team. And that typically [results in] wins in this league."
Linebacker Fred Warner also watched the Cardinals upset the Cowboys and immediately knew that the 49ers' upcoming game would not be a gimme.
"I was pretty impressed," Warner told reporters on Wednesday. "I think the Cowboys are looking at it like, man, we didn't show up to play. But hats off to the Cardinals, and the way that they played, and the way they executed. And they've shown the effort and the play style all three games to start.
"Everybody was talking about, in the preseason, them tanking and all that kind of stuff, and they've showed up and showed otherwise."
Was it a trap game for the Cowboys? Did they mistakenly look past the Cardinals in that Week 3 matchup?
"I don't think Dallas thought that Arizona was going to come out there and handle the game in [the way] they did, and it results [in] a win for them," Gipson said. "So for us, it's just we don't take opponents lightly, obviously. The Dallas Cowboys is a different opponent than the Cardinals, from the outside perception, but that's an NFL football team. They got Pro Bowlers on the team. They got good players. So obviously, we can't take our matchup lightly.
"But seeing how they came out there against Dallas, the most dangerous team is a team that really feels like they have nothing to lose. I think that's a dangerous person. Right now, they're playing fearless, they're playing confident, and it's showing on tape right now."
Defensive end Kerry Hyder notes that no NFL team should be taken for granted. It's a league filled with the best of the best, and that demands respect.
"It's the NFL. Every team has good players," Hyder said. "We're the top 2,000 in the world at what we do, so if you think you're going to roll it out there and beat anybody, it's not going to work. We got to bring our lunch pail and get ready to work every week."
Cardinals quarterback Joshua Dobbs is one of four quarterbacks who have yet to throw an interception this season. He is joined by Justin Herbert of the Los Angeles Chargers, C.J. Stroud of the Houston Texans, and Brock Purdy of the 49ers. However, San Francisco's defense will be tasked with ensuring the quarterback doesn't rack up yards with his legs, too.
Bosa points out that Dobbs doesn't like to slide when he pulls down the football and takes off running.
"He's going to try and get extra yards like a running back, and we have to pressure him," Bosa said. "I don't think many teams have gotten good pressure on him yet."
The 49ers believe they can contain Dobbs, forcing the Cardinals quarterback to question taking off into the heart of last year's top-ranked defense.
"Every quarterback is a running back until you see [LB Dre] Greenlaw and [LB] Fred [Warner] out there," Gipson said. "We'll see how much he wants to slide. We'll circle back Sunday after the game."
Don't take those comments as disrespect, though. The 49ers safety admires what Dobbs has accomplished this season when most counted him out.
"That's part of him being fearless," Gipson continued. "I mean, honestly, they have a franchise quarterback in Kyler Murray, so right now, the best thing he can do is just let it go. And I think that's exactly what he's doing. I tip my head off to him. I've got nothing but respect for him as a player.
"He's playing confident. He's playing fearless. At the end of the day, what more can you ask for, for your quarterback? Protect the ball and make plays when the opportunity comes, and he's been doing that."
