Hey everyone, welcome to Week 9!

I think everyone can agree that us Arizona Cardinals fans aren’t coming into Week 9 very excited and invigorated.

But, that’s not going to stop me from previewing the game. So, let’s look at some upsides of Sunday’s game.

C.J. Beathard

Beathard is not great — that’s just a fact. He’s a backup. He’s been sacked 11 times in just 3 games. He’s been intercepted three times. He’s going to be an easy target for our defense to look for. He’s probably not going to throw very much either — he’s throwing at an average of 215 yards/game, with only 167 yards thrown last week. This leads into my next point...

Carlos Hyde

Frankly, this could be either an upside or a downside. They’re probably going to give the ball to Hyde a lot. If the Cardinals can recognize this, they’ll be able to pretty much completely stop the offense, despite a somewhat underwhelming secondary.

Adrian Peterson

Peterson didn’t have nearly as good of a game last week as he did during his Cardinals debut versus Tampa Bay, but our whole team was playing terrible, so I don’t blame him alone. I think he’ll have a much better week.

Now, let’s look at the downsides.

Drew Stanton

Drew Stanton is.... Drew Stanton. Do I really have to say anything else? He’s probably going to throw an interception (or two). Not looking good so far.

Side Note: Blaine Gabbert

Just a quick reminder that we do have Blaine Gabbert as the new backup! There’s a slim chance that Arians will put him in, but it very well could happen if necessary. I’m interested as to how Gabbert is going to play in an actual NFL regular-season game after taking some time to practice.

The Defense

Our defense has been really disappointing this season. If we’re going to want to win this game, our defense is going to have to show up. What more is there to say?

If you can’t already tell, it seems as if the Cardinals’ own worst enemy is themselves. Isn’t that honestly been the whole story of the season so far?

We need to win this game. Numbers wise, this isn’t a “must-win game”, but it’s definitely one in this context: The 49ers are one the worst teams in the NFL, and they’re in our division. We need to win this to maintain our sanity and our respect as an NFL team that has potential, period.

Stay tuned to the site the next few days, we’re going to be covering the game against the Niners no matter the outcome! Good luck, Cardinals!