Current Odds

There has been very little movement on the pointspread as the 49ers opened as a 1-point road favorite in most locations, which is still the current number, while a few sportsbook have raised the line to -1½. The public is leaning slightly towards the road team with 54% of the consensus sites favoring San Francisco.

The Over/Under line opened at 39 total points and has risen to 40 and 40½ in most locations. This is not a surprise as 60% of the public is favoring the Over according to the consensus sites.

The weather will be clear, however the temperatures will be a bit colder than expected for Arizona with a low of 36 degrees on Monday night.

Injury Report

San Francisco’s star tight end Vernon Davis left the game last week versus Tampa Bay with an injured ankle, but he is expected to play this week. Davis leads the team with 516 receiving yards this season and is averaging 13.6 yards per catch. Wide receiver Josh Morgan is also probable to play, despite battling a shoulder injury. Morgan is fourth on the team with 384 receiving yards this season and leads the team with 14.8 yards per catch.

The 49ers will likely be without kicker Joe Nedney who missed last week’s game due to a knee injury and is doubtful this week. Offensive tackle Adam Snyder remains questionable with a shoulder injury, while defensive back William James is doubtful due to a concussion.

Arizona has some injury concerns on defense as linebacker Clark Haggans, defensive end Calais Campbell, and cornerback Gregory Toler are all listed as questionable, while defensive back Michael Adams is probable and is expected to play.

Non-Offensive Touchdowns

Arizona’s offense has been terrible this season. The Cardinals are averaging only 19 points per game on 275 yards of total offense per game. However, they have scored 24 points or more in four of their ten games because they are scoring a bunch of non-offensive touchdowns.

The Cardinals have 8 return touchdowns this season. LaRod Stephens-Howling has taken two kickoffs back to the house. Arizona’s defense has six of those touchdowns as Kerry Rhodes has taken two interceptions for touchdowns and four other guys have scored for the Cardinals’ defense.

While their defense is scoring points, they are also allowing the most points per game in the NFL. The Cardinals come into this game allowing 29 points per game on 398 yards of total offense. Five of their ten opponents have scored 31 points or more, including two teams (Falcons and Chargers) scoring 41 points apiece versus Arizona.

Blackout Monday

Arizona will wear their black jerseys for the last time this season; they are only allowed to wear the alternate jersey three times a year, once in the preseason and twice during the regular season. The Cardinals are 1-1 in black as they beat the Redskins in the preseason and lost to the Bucs last month. Free safety Kerry Rhodes sent out this message to fans on Twitter: “Keep ur head up! Let’s get ready for this blackout and whoop the Niners asses!”

The Cardinals defense has been in a blackout all season. They’ve allowed 19 pass plays of at least 30 yards or more which ties them for the most in the league. They’ve also allowed 12 rushing plays of at least 20 yards or more which ties them for the second-highest total in the league.

”It’s mental mistakes as much as anything,” head coach Ken Whisenhunt said. We’re having our issues with missed tackles, but when you line up wrong or play the defense wrong, when you drop coverage on a guy you're suppose to have, those are all culprits for our defense’s problems right now.”

Don’t Blame Me

The 49ers were shutout at home last week by Tampa Bay. It was San Francisco’s first offensive shutout in 33 years (1977) and nobody seems to want to take the blame. Offensive coordinator Mike Johnson says it wasn’t his fault: “I’ll sit here and say I thought the game plan was good,” he said. “But we didn’t execute it well.”

After being pestered about the lack of offensive production, head coach Mike Singletary responded with this in order to end the questions. “Just understand, in terms of whose fault was it for this, whose fault it was for that, it is all on me,” Singletary said. “If you have any questions about that, just before you even ask the question, just put ‘the head coach’ and that will be acceptable.”

If San Francisco doesn’t score points on the pathetic Arizona defense, then they’ll need to make some major changes. Arizona hasn’t been able to stop any offense this year, so the 49ers should come out and be aggressive in this game from the opening kickoff. If not, just blame the head coach like he requested.