Kyle Shanahan Says Cardinals Remind Him of 49ers

The San Francisco 49ers know the Arizona Cardinals are far better than their record.

ARIZONA -- It's game day for the Arizona Cardinals, and the last time they took the field, they shocked the Pittsburgh Steelers on the road. 

Now, Jonathan Gannon's troops play host to the red-hot San Francisco 49ers at State Farm Stadium. 

Not many believe an upset is in the cards. 

Arizona's 12.5 point spread is by far the largest set by sportsbooks in Week 15 and the two sides couldn't be on more opposite sides of the spectrum. The 49ers are essentially in Super Bowl or bust territory while the Cardinals are in the first year of their rebuild. 

Heavy favorites? Sure, but 49ers coaches and players all week have praised Arizona and the job they've done regardless of their 3-10 record. 

In fact, 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan said this current Cardinals team reminds him of his first year in San Francisco:

"I’ve got a lot of respect of how they've done this year. I thought they were real tough at the beginning of the year. I thought we had to play flawless on offense to beat them, but that was a real tight game. Since then they have how many ever games it is, nine more games of reps. They're playing very hard, they're playing together. They've added some really good players, especially [Arizona Cardinals S] Budda [Baker] who they didn't have. I think they've always been real talented on special teams.

"They've also gotten a very great talented quarterback back. They remind me a lot of us our first year where we started out 0-9 and finished 6-10. I think everything they're doing is the right way and I think they're a real tough football team."

Shanahan officially took over in 2017 and won just ten games in his first two years in San Francisco. The next four seasons, the 49ers would then make the NFC title game in all but one year. 

Cardinals fans would certainly take San Francisco's recent form of success, and there's hope Gannon is putting Arizona on a similar track.