The San Francisco 49ers are cruising through the start of the season, looking to begin 4-0 with a victory over the Arizona Cardinals at home this weekend.
Coming into the season, the Cardinals were viewed as one of the worst teams odds-wise, but have been competitive through three matchups, leading at halftime in each game, while pulling off an incredible upset over the Dallas Cowboys last weekend.
The 49ers are facing those same Cowboys in Week 5 during a matchup that's considered to be between two of the top contenders in the NFC, but make no mistake, San Francisco isn't taking their division rivals lightly.
"They had every chance to win versus Washington in Week 1. 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."
A surprising, but now significant element of their team has been quarterback Josh Dobbs, who earned the starting job, despite being traded to the Cardinals relatively close to the start of the season.
While Dobbs's stats haven't been significant, Shanahan believes the quarterback has been playing good football to date, helping his team remain competitive.
"I think he's playing real good quarterback play right now. He's one of the reasons they've been in every game," Shanahan said. "They're really committing to the run, try not to give up explosives and keep guys out of the end zone on defense and he's not turning it over. He's been extremely decisive. When it's there, he consistently makes it, when it's not there, he plays it smart, doesn't turn it over. He has been able to scramble and makes some plays. He's been very competitive in the quarterback run game when they haven't honored him."
Defensive end Nick Bosa added to the element of Dobbs on the ground, noting the team's previous struggles with dual-threat quarterbacks, but also pointing out last week's effort against Daniel Jones as a positive.
"[Josh Dobbs] doesn't like to slide, so got to be ready to tackle him," Bosa said. "He's going to try and get extra yards like a running back and we have to pressure him. I don't think many teams have gotten good pressure on him yet."
"Very important [to have a coordinated pass rush against mobile quarterbacks]," Bosa said. "Yeah, that's like third downs when you've played good run defense and then you just let them escape and it's a killer for a defense. We've had issues with that in the past, so it's always an emphasis."
The 49ers are seen as significant favorites heading into the game, but the Cardinals have proven that they can make battles tough, and San Francisco isn't taking that lightly.
