Cardinals Panic Meter: Defense, 49ers, Fred Warner

Should the Arizona Cardinals be worried on their Week 5 matchup against the San Francisco 49ers?

Sep 9, 2024; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers linebacker Fred Warner (54) celebrates after a victory against the New York Jets at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: David Gonzales-Imagn Images / David Gonzales-Imagn Images

The Arizona Cardinals were, quite frankly embarrassed last week against the Washington Commanders in front of a home crowd.

The offense was almost nonexistent and the defense was run over. It was truly one of the worst games the Cardinals have played in the last several years.

Thankfully, the team gets to turn the page and move on to the next game. Unfortunately, that game is in the Bay Area against the NFC West rival San Francisco 49ers.

The 1-3 Cardinals have every right to be in a full panic state right now with little going right this season, and a trip to the Niners feels like a near death sentence.

San Francisco isn't firing on all cylinders just yet, but they're still one of the most potent teams in the league, which means Arizona must still treat them as though they are elite and in their primes.

What's the panic meter look like this weekend for the Cardinals as they look to pull off what could be one of the biggest upsets of the season?

Let's take a look.

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Rebounding from last week's offensive performance

To call the Cardinals' offensive game plan last week against the Commanders bad would be the most unjust way to describe it. The Cardinals couldn't do anything against one of the league's worst defenses, and a lot of that was because of a not-great game plan.

Now in Santa Clara, Arizona will need to throw last week's game plan in the trash and start fresh. Unlike Washington, the Niners have a great defense. Don't let their OK stats fool you, there's still a lot of weapons on this unit.

If the Cardinals come out flat early then we can expect another beat down. I do have enough faith in Drew Petzing to learn from last week's missteps and come up with something much more productive, so I'm not completely down on this part of the equation... I just wish it was against a bit easier of a defense to build that confidence back.

Panic meter: 8/10

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Defensive Player of the Year candidate Fred Warner

With Warner being reportedly cleared to play despite being questionable, the Cardinals need to be on high-alert. Warner is playing the best football of his career, and considering he's been a top-three linebacker in the league for several seasons now... that's a scary thought.

Arizona needs to be ready for Warner to wreck anything and everything in front of him. The best they can do is try and minimize his damage, but they will absolutely struggle against one of the front runners for the Defensive Player of the Year award.

Panic meter: 10/10

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A (mostly) healthy offense

Christian McCaffrey may not be playing, but that hasn't remotely slowed down the 49ers offense this year. As we've known for a long time, Kyle Shanahan is one of the best offensive minds in the sport and he proves it time and time again by getting the most out of what he's given.

Jordan Mason has been a Pro Bowl-esque running back in CMC's absence. Juaun Jennings is breaking out in a stacked wide receivers room that features Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk... Ricky Pearsall may be returning soon as well.

Guided by Brock Purdy, the Niners' offense is as dynamic as it gets. They will scare every team in the NFL, but a bad Cardinals defense must understand that they're facing a juggernaut. Executing the game plan has to be near perfection if they want a chance to win.

The only thing keeping this from being another 10/10 is knowing that the offense can be fragile and some bad luck for the Niners could help out the Cards.

Panic meter: 9.5/10