ARIZONA — The Arizona Cardinals know their next opponent almost better than anybody. The 10-3 San Francisco 49ers are the only team to have already clinched a playoff spot with four weeks left in the season. They handled the Philadelphia Eagles – former No. 1 seed in the NFC – with ease and are playing the best complementary football across the league. The Cardinals have dropped their last three games against their NFC West rivals, though coming off a bye week after a nice road win in Pittsburgh could give their chances a boost.
On their lone Sunday of the season off, coach Jonathan Gannon said he was watching their next opponent. Well, kind of. “Yeah, a little bit. I think I got to catch a few quarters there,” Gannon said. “I was cooking Sunday sauce, so that (had) my attention but yeah, we watched it a little bit.” San Francisco has been to three NFC title games in the last four seasons (with one Super Bowl trip) and are favored to again make a deep push in the postseason. “They’re a consistent winner and they’re always knocking on the door. They put themselves in a position to have a chance to play meaningful football in late January so by that standard, yeah, that’s what you’re looking for,” Gannon said.
“You want to be playing meaningful games in January and you want to earn the right to play more games than 17. Obviously since (49ers General Manger) John (Lynch) and (49ers Head Coach) Kyle (Shanahan) have been there they’ve built it the right way. They had a couple of down years just to start, but then they got it going and they’re a really good football team. Their record shows it. When you watch the tape, all three phases jump out to you. They’ve got good players, they’re well coached and they win games so that’s what everybody in the NFL is trying to do.”
