The San Francisco 49ers will welcome the Arizona Cardinals to Levi's® Stadium for the second game of a three-game homestand. The 49ers are off to a 3-0 start for the first time since the 2019 season and are one of three undefeated teams left in the NFL. Meanwhile, the Cardinals are flying high after 28-16 upset over the highly touted Dallas Cowboys in Week 3.
Here is what both teams had to say ahead of the Week 4 matchup:
Niners Liners
Head coach Kyle Shanahan on the competitiveness of the Cardinals:
"All you have to do is watch the two games before that (Dallas Cowboys upset). 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. It ended up not being close. They're a team that really should be 3-0 right now."
Shanahan's scouting report on Cardinals quarterback Joshua Dobbs:
"He's playing real good quarterback play right now. He's one of the reasons they've been in every game. They're really committing to the run, trying not to give up explosives and keeping guys out of the end zone on defense. Also, 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 and 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."
Shanahan on his familiarity with Arizona head coach Jonathan Gannon:
"It's real similar because of the scheme he runs, just the fronts and the coverages. He had such a sound, good scheme at Philly and that's what it's been so far in these three games. We'll see on tendencies and stuff and how that changes up. It's still early in the year to know how he's going to use his personnel and stuff like that, but you can still see he's doing what he does. It's a very tough scheme."
Defensive coordinator Steve Wilks on game planning for Dobbs and striking a balance between pressure and defending against explosive plays:
"Well, hopefully, we're able to get pressure with our front four. I have a lot of confidence in those guys, coming off the ball and trying to create some havoc. The key thing that we've got to do first, we have to stop the run."
Quarterback Brock Purdy on playing Gannon for the first time since the 2022 NFC Championship Game:
"Obviously, (he's) the same play caller and scheme, but the personnel is different the way they call plays can be a little bit different than Philly. But, there are some similar things within the scheme that we had game planned for last year in the playoffs. At the same time, man, it's like they've got different players and their style is a little bit different compared to Philly."
Defensive lineman Nick Bosa on preparing for Cardinals running back James Connor:
"We all respect him and how hard he plays. He likes to bounce it more than you think on the edge, so we have to be ready for that."
Cardinals Quotes
Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon on his approach to prepping for the 49ers:
"You've got to be mentally, physically and emotionally sharp because they're going to make their plays. They're going to hit you in the mouth, and you've got to be able to respond. Alignment, assignment and key technique is one of our principles on the defense. You've got to do that faster than they do that on offense. A critical component to the game of playing them well started on Monday, and it continued on Tuesday. Wednesday, we get on the grass, and you've got four days on the grass, five or six days of meetings and then you go let it rip."
Gannon's scouting report of the 49ers offense:
"They've got guys in every group that are really, really good with the ball in their hands...They get the guys the ball in space. A lot of the times Brock Purdy plays at a very high level where an explosive is a little thing, but because the ball's on time, now, it becomes a catch and a run and not a bang-bang or a catch that goes for 10 and now goes for 20 because it's on time in rhythm and the defensive back's not connected.... Obviously, the scheme is probably the best in the world, truthfully. Defensively, they've got star power on all three levels. Their D-line train wrecks the game. They've got linebackers that flow fast, and they can take the ball away. They're good in coverage, and they've got a backend that plays connected with star power. That's a reason they're 3-0. It's a reason they're one of the better (teams). We'll see what happens, but our team knows very well the challenge that lies ahead on Sunday."
Gannon on Purdy's ball security:
"I think it's two things that go into that. I think it's coaching and playing. From the coaching part of it, you can tell Kyle Shanahan knows how to coach the quarterback. He doesn't put the ball at harm's risk. He knows where to go with the ball. He knows the stresses of the coverages and that's where he delivers the ball. Then with Brock, he plays the game extremely fast so he's not late trying to throw it through windows. He throws it through the correct window. The ball comes out on time. That's what I mean by timing and rhythm, which you've got to get on people. They scheme guys up and with the run and pass game. There's a lot of guys running open... We've got our work cut out for us."
Gannon on how the 49ers have changed since the 2022 NFC Championship Game:
"(There are) not a ton, but it's a different team. It's a different team, and it's a different time of year. A team looks different in January than they do in October here or September. They're good, and the thing that is consistent is what I just talked about. They're a good football team."
Cardinals quarterback Joshua Dobbs' scouting report on the 49ers defense:
"They're really good, man. It's either high-paid guys or first round draft picks over there. They're really talented, and they've played a lot of football together. Similar to the last three weeks, we keep getting defenses that have played a lot of football together. They play a really good scheme. They know what they're doing. They're fast, and they have really good players. The onus is on us as an offense to match their intensity, match their talent with our talent and execution. (We have to) go out and still play good football."
Dobbs on the importance of taking care of the football:
" I understand turnovers are part of the game, but my job as quarterback is to keep those as low as possible and none if possible. We looked back at our first game of the season, and we said if we just didn't turn over the ball twice that game outcome could have been a little bit different. Each game the ball is so important. It holds your dreams, your goals, your aspirations of not only me as a player, but literally every single person in this organization. We take care of the football, the people that make our lunch, they keep their jobs. It goes a long way to take care of the football so it's very important and we treat it as such. The way we practice, and then, obviously, the way we play, it's important. As quarterback, taking care of the ball, being smart with my decision-making and not being careless with the football is extremely important... It not only helps us take care of the football, but also helps us play good football and score a lot of points."
