We are about to start Week 5 of the 2016 NFL season with an NFC West showdown. In this week’s Thursday Night Football game you have the 1-3 Arizona Cardinals head up to California and play the 1-3 San Francisco 49ers. Both teams are coming off losses in Week 4, as the 49ers lost to the Cowboys by the score of 24-17. The Cardinals lost 17-13 to the Los Angeles Rams. You can say that this game is big for both teams as they are looking at 1-4 to start the season and it would be very tough to make a comeback in the season.

Before I get to the game itself, I would like to present each teams injury reports. First for the Arizona Cardinals: DT Ed Stinson, QB Carson Palmer, and TE Darren Fells are all listed as being out for this game. CB Justin Bethel, DT Josh Mauro, and DT Frostee Rucker are all questionable.

On the other side, the San Francisco 49ers have several players listed on the injury report, but there are only a few that their statuses are known for the game. DB Jimmie Ward, DL DeFrost Buckner, and LB Navorro Bowman are listed as being out for this game. It should be noted that Bowman is done for this season as he had an Achilles injury. TE Vance McDonald and WR Jeremy Kerley are both listed as questionable.

It should be noted though that Ifeanyi Momah will probably get some playing time for the injured Fells and Drew Stanton will probably be the starter for the Cardinals, replacing the injured Carson Palmer.

As both teams are looking at this game as the game that hopefully turns their season around, both teams should take a few things into consideration. First, fans should expect to see RB David Johnson getting more touches than normal.

This is going to be because Stanton will probably be starting the game. Another thing to look out for is the 49ers pass rush defense against Drew Stanton. Being how this will be a competitive game, Stanton can’t make mistakes that could alter the game in any way or shape.

I see this to be an interesting game. You have two teams that are expected to be at both ends of the spectrum with Arizona being on the top and the 49ers on the bottom. Although both teams currently stand at 1-3, the Cardinals are playing like a 1-3 team, and the 49ers are playing a bit better than a 1-3 team.

With all of that being said, I still pick the Cardinals to win due to the fact they have the better players on the field, even though they have a back up starting the game.

Prediction: Cardinals 27 49ers 17

Information to watch the game is below.

Date: Thursday, October 6, 2016

Time: 8:25 pm ET

Channel: CBS/NFL Network

Online Stream: Stream 1