The Arizona Cardinals and San Francisco 49ers face each other tonight on Monday Night Football. It is technically a home game for the Cardinals but it is not being played at State Farm Stadium.
It is the final international game of the season for the NFL, being played in Estadio Azteca in Mexico City.
The Cardinals are 4-6 and coming off a 27-17 win over the Los Angeles Rams. Kyler Murray is injured and will miss his second straight game, which means Colt McCoy will start against the 5-4 49ers, who are the current No. 7 seed in the NFC.
The 49ers are favored in this game. Who will win?
Below are expert picks from the staff at Cards Wire, Niners Wire managing editor Kyler Madson and AZCentral Sports beat writer Bob McManaman.
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Jess Root, Cards Wire
49ers 24, Cardinals 20
I could see this going completely sideways early for the Cardinals if McCoy starts. I don’t think it will. The Cardinals are fresh off a division win and do play the Niners well. It is a game that I think the Cardinals CAN win, especially if they can score early. A WR group of Hopkins, Hollywood and Rondale Moore should be very hard to defend. That said, I think the San Fran running game will be too much and the 49ers grind out a close win.
Alex Sutton, Cards Wire
Cardinals 23, 49ers 20
The Cardinals will trot out their starting wide receiver core for the first time all season in Week 11 and it should pay dividends in this game. If they can provide any sort of pass protection, the 49ers do not have the cornerback personnel to keep up with the likes of DeAndre Hopkins, Hollywood Brown and Rondale Moore. This is also essentially the season for the Cards, as a loss would make the playoffs almost impossible. I’m picking them to win a close one against a division rival who they’ve had plenty of success against recently.
Kyle Madson, Niners Wire
49ers 26, Cardinals 21
I think the 49ers win? They’re the better team, but given what Colt McCoy did to them at Levi’s Stadium last year it’s hard to pick the 49ers with any confidence. San Francisco should be able to get their ground game going with Elijah Mitchell and McCaffrey. If they can go ball control on offense and keep Garoppolo from turning it over, they should be able to put up 30-plus and from there their defense can take over. San Francisco’s defense is allowing 13 points per game if we remove the two contests they played against the Falcons and Chiefs where they were super banged up on the defensive side. Of course, division games are weird and the Cardinals have had some ownership over the 49ers in the last few seasons. I think the 49ers win a tight one, and I like Arizona to cover.
Bob McManaman, AZCentral Sports
Cardinals 20, 49ers 16
Call me crazy, but in a game where both teams’ backs are against the wall, I’m siding with the Cardinals this week and knowing what’s on the line, believe they’ll deliver in a strange, low-scoring game that still will be full of some surprises.
This comes from his preview and predictions article for AZCentral.
