It’s only a matter of time before the NFL expands outside of the United States. In a truly dreadful, boring game in which the San Francisco 49ers steamrolled the lowly Arizona Cardinals 38-10, the Mexican NFL fans showed their character as they cheered and celebrated all night long to create a magnificent atmosphere.
Once again, the rest of the world has shown that it is desperate for the NFL to expand outside of the United States and become an international sport. From the ‘Country Road’-loving German fans to the electric Grupo Firme halftime show in Mexico City, the NFL has proven to be an extremely popular sport amongst the billions of people who live outside of the United States.
Plus, the atmospheres of these stadiums have been exceptional. Regardless of the game being a close, one-score affair (as it was with the Bucs vs. Seahawks) or a complete blowout (as it was last night), these non-American fans were as electric and excited for every play as they were at the opening kickoff.
Each new culture and location the NFL visits not only brings out the best of said places and people for the millions of Americans and other fans watching at home to take in and admire, but it also broadens the scoop and insight for said people as to how popular the NFL really is.
For the first time ever, a European division of the NFL (a team in Mexico would obvious be a part of a Pacific-like division) is actually feasible from a commercial perspective.
And that should be an exciting thought for every football fan, regardless of nationality.
As for the game itself, the 49ers proved that they are the most dominant team in the NFC West and should easily take the division with their final stretch of the season. Jimmy Garoppolo is looking like his 2020 version as he had the 49ers offense clicking in Mexico City.
Completing 20/29 of his passes for 280 yards and 4 TOUCHDOWNS in the 7,349-foot elevation (yup, over 7000 feet off sea-level) of Estadio Azteca, Jimmy Garoppolo destroyed the sorry Cardinals defense all night long.
Whether he was zipping the ball to George Kittle (4 REC, 84 yards, 2 TDs), Deebo Samuel (7 REC, 57 yards, 3 CAR, 37 yards, 1 rushing TD), Brandon Aiyuk (2 REC, 20 yards, 2 TD), or Christian McCaffrey (7 REC, 67 yards) out of the backfield, Garoppolo was finding the open man time and again.
Then, when the Cardinals linebackers and secondary backed off into zone coverage, Garoppolo and Shannahan would simply change up the playbook and feed the running game as McCaffrey (7 CAR, 39 yards), Elijah Mitchell (9 CAR, 59 yards), and Deebo Samuel (3 CAR, 37 yards, 1 TD) combined helped lead the 49ers to 159 total rushing yards.
Simply put, there was nothing the Cardinals defense could have done to stop the 49ers offense as it is by far the most fearsome unit in all of the NFL when healthy, making it one of the only true juggernauts in the league. Though, actually putting in the effort to stop the 49ers does help to minimize getting tore apart for 38 points, Cardinals defense. You’d have thought they would have already known that.
I feel bad for seasoned veterans like J.J. Watt (1 tackle, 1 PD) and Budda Baker (10 tackles, 1 PD) as they were trying to stop the 49ers rushing and passing games, but the rest of the defense gave up after the 3rd Quarter. A viral clip of Troy Aikman going in on Cardinals LB Antonio Hamilton for not tackling George Kittle on the TE’s second TD of the game may be very funny, but the legendary Dallas quarterback is telling the truth.
Hamilton, and the majority of the Cardinals defense, should be ashamed of themselves for the effort they put in. And, seeing as Michael Bidwill is the owner of the franchise, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Hamilton no longer a member of this Cardinals team after the year is done.
Speaking of people whose time with the Cardinals is coming to an end, Kliff Kingsbury is surely a few weeks away from be unceremoniously fired after this performance. This Cardinals team has been woeful ever since Kyler Murray went full diva mode this past offseason, which is telling about the leadership of Kingsbury.
He’s an ‘offensive guru’ (not really), not a head coach. He can design fancy plays and trick defenses into going this way and that way…for a few games until the rest of the NFL catches on. As soon as the rest of the NFL gets ahold of the Cardinals schemes and trickery, Arizona gets utterly smacked.
It happened last year as they lost their final 7/8 games (including a Wild Card round blowout to the LA Rams) and it has happened this year, though the ‘smacking’ part came much quicker than I would have guessed. Kingsbury’s time in the NFL (or at least with the Cardinals) is all but over, and he’ll run back to college as soon as he is able to.
His college-level trickery/superior athleticism-based schemes don’t work in the NFL as the athletes on the defensive side of the ball are just too good to deceive and outperform on a weekly basis.
Sure, the Cardinals have Deandre Hopkins (9 REC, 91 yards), Greg Dortch (9 REC, 103 yards) and A.J. Green (5 REC, 50 yards) at the skill positions, but the 49ers had Nick Bosa (3 tackles, 1 sack, 1 TFL, 3 QB hits), Dre Greenlaw (9 tackles, 1 PD), Fred Warner (6 tackles, 1 sack, 2 TFL, 1 QB hit), Charvarius Ward (10 tackles, 1 TFL), Talanoa Hufanga (6 tackles), Jimmie Ward (5 tackles, 1 PD, 1 INT), etc. to stop them.
And, seeing as how the 49ers defense had 63 total tackles, 3 sacks, 2 INTs, 9 TFL, 6 PD, and 8 QB hits, it looks like the rest of the NFL has more than figured out Kingsberry and the Cardinals (3-8) too as they are now well and truly dead in the NFC playoff race. Kyler Murray better be able to control himself and his temper/inner diva a little more with his next head coach or else he’ll be the next one out the door.
As for the 49ers (6-4), they’re my pick to win the NFC and make it back to the Super Bowl. They are just too good on offense, defense, and special teams to not be able to wipe the floor with their NFC challengers, such as the Minnesota Vikings, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the New York Giants, the Philadelphia Eagles, and the Seattle Seahawks.
The only team that they might have a problem with is the Dallas Cowboys, but they showed last year that they aren’t afraid of going to Texas and beating up America’s Team on their own home soil.
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