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Homecoming vs. Hometown Hero: Can Kyler Crash Purdy's Arizona Party?

This is a classic trap game scenario for the 49ers, who play the AFC leading Ravens next week on Christmas day in a possible Super Bowl preview.

Ted Hazelrig

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Brock Purdy, born and raised in Queen Creek Arizona (fewer than 40 miles southeast of Phoenix), will have a cheering section of friends and family on Sunday at State Farm Stadium in Scottsdale. The heavily favored 49ers face Kyler Murray and the Arizona Cardinals in what promises to be Purdy's homecoming party. Can Murray crash the celebration?

The 49ers have arguably the best roster in football. The Cards roster has many holes in it, especially on defense. One area where the 49ers are banged up is defensive tackle. Arik Armstead and Javon Hargrave have both been ruled out. Same with Elijah Mitchell, Ross Dwelley & Oren Burks. Dre Greenlaw is banged up. So are both starting offensive guards Aaron Banks and Spencer Burford. Mooney Ward has groin pull, which can be tricky for a cornerback. 

The Cards are banged up as well, but replacement players are much more replaceable than star and super stars:

The 49ers defense did great job of containing Jalen Hurts two weeks ago in Philadelphia. Nick Bosa didn't use any moves that could compromise his gap integrity or edge containment. No spin moves, or swim moves, outside pass rush moves, inside pass rush moves or stunts. Just straight bull rushes to no farther than than quarterback depth, then he waited for Hurts to be surrounded before going for the sack.

Containing Murray will be more difficult. He is a more dynamic runner than Hurts (faster as well as quicker). As mentioned earlier, the 49ers are also missing both starting defensive tackles, leaving Javon Kinlaw as their best interior defensive lineman. It's not just the star power that will be missed in the middle of the defensive line, but also the depth as the game wears on. Plus Murray is smaller, which would seem to favor the 49ers, but he has been able to get multiple roughing calls in recent contests between these two teams.

This is also a classic trap game scenario for the 49ers, who play the AFC leading Ravens next week on Christmas day in a possible Super Bowl preview. It's impossible not to look ahead with anticipation of such an epic showdown.

The 49ers are favored by 12 points, which is a lot on the road. It may feel more like a home game as the crowd is projected to be over 60% 49ers fans. The Cards will probably keep it close or even lead early on, but I'd be surprised if the 49ers don't win. 49ers 34 - Cards 24.

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Ted Hazelrig
TED HAZELRIG

Ted Hazelrig grew up on the mid peninsula in the '70s and '80s and is a life-long, rabid 49ers fan from prior to Eddie DeBartlolo Jr., Joe Montana and Bill Walsh, all the way through to the present. He is a graduate of Santa Clara University, who enjoys golf, biking, hiking, tennis and water/snow skiing. He was a 49ers season ticket holder at Candlestick Park and still attends several games every season at Levi's Stadium.  His career has been as a tech recruiter, but he would like nothing more than to pivot into covering the 49ers on a full-time basis. He loves to read, watch and listen to all the brilliant 49ers content creators. To take his knowledge to the ultimate extreme, he has found that arguing with passionate and knowledgeable fans of both the 49ers and opposing teams really puts his knowledge over the top.  Right now, his most hated team is the Seattle Seahawks. For many years it was the Troy Aikman led Dallas Cowboys and for a while the Brett Favre led Packers. The Patrick Mahomes led Chiefs are his most-hated AFC team. Ted's second-favorite team is the Josh Allen led Buffalo Bills. While he may like other teams, Ted is passionate about the 49ers. He endeavors to always be honest, polite, not profane and never get personal. He got his break covering the 49ers for @49ersHive and also has written some articles for @49ersCap. You can find him at @TedH6 on twitter, or Ted Talks Ball on YouTube and other platforms. Ted is thrilled to join Grant Cohn and his extremely talented team at @All49ersFN.

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