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The Arizona Cardinals will play their first NFC West game of the season at home against the San Francisco 49ers. Let's go through some of the facts about this game and the history of the matchup.
History:
The two teams have played one another since 1951. This game will be the 46th time they meet. But most of those games have come since division realignment in 2002, when the Cardinals were moved from the NFC East to the NFC West.
San Francisco is 28-17 all time against the Cardinals and have won nine of the last 10 games. The last time they met was Week 17 of the 20013 season. San Francisco got a last-second game-winning field goal to come away with a 23-20 win. Arizona last won in December 2011, a 21-19 victory.
The two teams will meet again in Week 17 this year, the fourth time in five season that will have occurred.
Team connections:
Arizona has one former 49ers player. That would be receiver and returner Ted Ginn. He played for the Niners from 2010-2012 and was the first player in team history to return a kickoff and a punt for a touchdown in the same game.
Two Cardinals coaches -- defensive coordinator Todd Bowles and DL coach Brentson Buckner, both played for the Niners.
San Francisco has one player who was with the Cardinals -- receiver Anquan Boldin. he was drafted by the Cardinals and played here from 2003-2009. He was part of the Super Bowl team.
Arizona running back Andre Ellington and San Francisco receiver Bruce Ellington are cousins.
Stats and other info:
So far in 2014, Arizona is 18th in scoring and San Fran is eighth. Arizona is seventh in points allowed, while the Niners are tied for 18th.
In terms of yards on offense, Arizona is 18th, averaging over 334 per game. The Niners are 16th at 340 yards per contest.
In total defense, Arizona is 11th, allowing under 316 per game. San Fran is sixth, allowing 299. Arizona's rush defense is third in the NFL and San Francisco's is eighth.
Arizona in +3 in turnovers. San Francisco is even.
Arizona has not allowed an opponent to score in the fourth quarter this season.
Larry Fitzgerald has 12 career receiving touchdowns against the 49ers. A 13th would be the most by any player against the Niners. If he gets 100 yards receiving, it would be the ninth time and third straight game vs. San Francisco to achieve it.
If the Cardinals win, Drew Stanton will have won his last four starts.
In the two meetings against San Francisco in 2013, Arizona's offense racked up 885 total net yards, including a season-high 482 yards in the season finale. Arizona's 885 yards gained last season rank as the second-highest total against a division opponent in a season since the division realignment in 2002 (915 yards vs. Seattle, 2008).