January 3, 2025 • 11 mins
Discussing the 49ers preparations for their 2024 season finale against the Arizona Cardinals, including quarterback changes, players to watch and the importance of finishing the season strong with special guest Craig Grialou.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:08):
Hello, and welcome to the forty nine Ers First and
ten podcast, presented by Cisco. Ten minutes of the most
up to date forty nine Ers news First Thing in
the morning. I'm your host Brian McDonald and joining me
today is forty nine Ers team reporter Lindsay Polares and
special guest from the Arizona Cardinals, Craig Rilu. Craig, thanks
(00:30):
for joining us today, My pleasure amazing. So both teams
are yearing up for the twenty twenty four season finale
this Sunday, so let's dive right into this week eighteen contest. Lindsay,
to start, it looks like quarterback Rock Party will be
sidelined and Josh Shabs will be taken over as the
Niners quarterback for this final game. Could you tell us
(00:52):
a little bit more on Perdy's injury and how has
Dobbs been preparing for this role.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
Yeah, so rock Perty is dealing with right elbow contusion,
also dealing with some nerve inflammation. I think, just given
where the forty nine Ers are at this point of
the season, this is the last game of the year.
Postseason is not on the table for this year, So yes,
the forty nine Ers are going with Josh Dobbs. Head
(01:19):
coach Kyle Shanahan talked a little bit about his decision. Obviously,
Josh Dobbs has that dual threat ability, whereas Brandon Allen
is more of a traditional pocket passer. He said that
he's viewed both quarterbacks as his number two this year.
There is some decision making that went into what the
offensive line will look like in Week eighteen. You know,
(01:41):
I know last week Colton mckivitt's the starting right tackle,
was able to suit up. He has not practiced the
last two days, so it is going to be interesting
to see where the pass protection is. Obviously, the line
did very well in Week seventeen against the Detroit Lions,
but you definitely want a quarterback that can extend play,
and Josh Dobbs certainly brings that. He has been with
(02:03):
the team all season long, had his first appearance in
Week seventeen, and he's going to be the guy suiting
up for this season finale. We heard from guys like
George Kittle Juwan Jennings who are all very excited to
see what he brings to the field this week. For
Juwan Jennings especially, he's a former teammate of Dobbs, played
a couple seasons with him at Tennessee. He's definitely looking
(02:25):
forward to playing with Dobbs in the season finale.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
All right, Yeah, Now, looking at the Cardinals offense, Craig
Trey McBride has had an exceptional season, including making the
Pro Bowl and breaking records for tight ends. How do
you think McBride will approach this final game and what
does he need to do to build momentum heading into
the offseason.
Speaker 3 (02:46):
Well, the one thing he doesn't have to worry about
is that he has got his first receiving touchdown of
the season, and he did that last week, so that
has crossed off the list of things that needed to
happen before the end of the season. But he has
been the guy for much of this season and he's
darn near closed to breaking the single season tight end
record for receptions in the league. We'll see what brock
(03:07):
Bauers does with the Las Vegas Raiders coming up on Sunday.
But it's again what we've heard all week long is
making sure you finish on a positive note. Obviously the
goal is to win, but to keep stacking those performances
even though momentum doesn't carry over into the offseason, confidence
does and gets continuing to build confidence, especially we forget
(03:30):
McBride is still relatively young. It's his third season, but
he hasn't been a full season starter for very many
years in this league, so he still feels that he
can get better now.
Speaker 1 (03:42):
While we're taking a look at tight ends, George Kittle
has had another standout season, reaching one thousand yards for
the fourth time in his career. Given the lack of
playoff pressure, how do you expect Kittle to approach this
final gave him of the season and what role will
he play in helping set the ton for this game?
Speaker 2 (03:59):
Lindsay, Yeah, you know, I think with George Kittle, one
of my favorite things that he says, and he says
it a lot, is that he goes into every game
thinking it's a winnable game and that the forty nine
ers are going to do what's necessary to win. That's
not going to change in Week eighteen, despite what this
season looks like and kind of has panned out to be.
(04:20):
So expect that same competitive fire from George Kittle. Like
you mentioned, he's already hit that thousand yard mark for
the fourth time.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
In his career.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
He's one of five tight ends in NFL history to
be able to hit that thousand yard receiving for four
seasons in their career, so a huge congratulations to him.
He was named one of four Pro Bowlers for the
forty nine Ers. But for him, it is really, like
Craig said, stacking the success that he has found this season,
and I'm playing to win, playing for pride. He is
(04:52):
a person that reps that forty nine Ers logo harder
than really anyone else and that isn't going to waiver
in Week eighteen regardless of kind of what's on what's
at stake for this team, and I think he has
been a really big source of inspiration and leadership for
the rest of this team that takes the field. So yeah,
I think expect a lot more competitive fire that you know,
(05:16):
the George Kittle isms that we hear every single week,
and I think he's very much rooting on guys around
him that are very close to those really big benchmarks,
like Juwan Jennings, who is seventy seven yards of that
thousand yards receiving for the first time in his career.
So just expect more of the same from George Kittle
in the best way possible.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
Awesome. Yeah, we're talking Pro Bowlers and Pro Bowl rosters
were announced yesterday. Alongside George Kittle, Nick Bosa, Kyle Uschek,
and Fred Warner were also selected to the twenty twenty
five Pro Bowl, with Leonard Floyd Diamed, Leonor rock Perty,
and Trent Williams named as alternates for Arizona. Safety Budda
Baker made the cut with Trey McBride, and the Cardinals
(05:59):
also got three alternates kick returner DJ Dallas, left tackle
Paris Johnson Junior, and kicker Chad Ryland. So, with it
being the final game of this season, Craig, how much
motivation do you expect from honestly each side to finish
strong in this finale? Tell me about the extra emphasis
on ending the season with a win, especially with what's
at stake for these players individually.
Speaker 3 (06:21):
Yeah, there's no guarantee that there is a next season
for a lot of players. You can play your way
into the league, remain in the league, or you can
play your way out of the league. And I think
that's something that's been preached all week long, really all
season long, to make sure that each and every week
you bring it as a coach, as a player for
the Cardinals, specifically, a win on Sunday, you double your
(06:42):
win total from a year ago, you finish five hundred
within the NFC West after not winning a single division
game a year ago. And then I think it's important
to send the fans home happy. It's the final home
game of the regular season. A win on Sunday, that
six wins at State Farm Stadium this sea, which has
not been done since twenty fifteen. So again, there's some
(07:04):
tangible aspects to get a victory on Sunday moving into
the offseason and hopefully building upon how you finish a
regular season going into the offseason.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
And Lindsey, how important is this game for evaluating the
depth and young talent on the Niners roster? Are there
any particular players look you're looking at to make a
statement in this game? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (07:26):
I think this is a bit of a twofold game
of for younger players especially. We heard the veteran players
talk a lot about how the rookie wall is a
real thing that younger players have to push through and
this is the longest season of football that they have
played so far in their careers. So being able to
play at a high level, like we keep talking about,
(07:48):
finishing on a high note, is a real thing that
you want to see from them this late in the year.
And I think you talk about younger players. You've got
wide receiver Ricky Piersal. He gets to go back to
his home state play at State Farm Arena. He told
me it's his first time actually playing there. He's going
to have fifty five members of his family just on
his mom's side that are going to watch him play.
(08:09):
So this is a really big career moment for him.
And he's coming off his career best performance in Week seventeen.
He hat over one hundred and forty yards receiving a touchdown.
He wants to keep stacking those successes. Same goes for
Jacob Cowing, also in Arizona Native. He has been the
forty nine ers punt returner this year. He wants to
get more reps out wide receiver. Then you've got guys
(08:30):
like Madlik Mustafa and Ernardo Green who have been really
integral parts of the forty nine ers secondary this year.
Due to injuries, they just want to keep that pace
and momentum that they have had for the rest of
the year, head into the off season with a lot
of confidence, and I think this is the time to
do it. Week eighteen. It's your last go at it,
So yeah, let's get it done.
Speaker 1 (08:51):
Definitely, And we've been talking about it all morning. Now
this is the twenty twenty four regular season finale, So Craig,
what's the biggest way you want to look for it
in this final game that will help both teams as
they look ahead to twenty twenty five.
Speaker 3 (09:06):
I think a key is going to be who takes
advantage of their opportunities, who takes advantage of their snaps.
No James Connor this week for the Cardinals, so Michael
Carter won't get another opportunity for the second straight week
to kind of fill those shoes. Is he someone that
this team looks forward to next season? And also keeping
an eye on Kelvin Beacham's status as far as the
(09:28):
Cardinals left tackle is concerned. He's been dealing with a
knee issue. If he can't go, then it would likely
be rookie Christian Jones getting the start and another opportunity
to showcase what he's capable of doing. He got one
series in last week against the Rams, but Obviously, if
Beach is not able to go, then that's even a
bigger load for Christian Jones, one of those draft picks
(09:49):
from a year ago that has been waiting for an opportunity.
And that's, as Jonathan Ganna likes to say, are you
maximizing your opportunity when it presents itself, And this on
Sunday is another opportunity for a lot of young players.
Speaker 1 (10:02):
Definitely, And lindsay, what's your biggest takeaway from this final
game before looking ahead to twenty twenty five.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
I think it's just effort level. You know, this is
a team that has faced a ton of injuries this year,
and one thing that the veterans have continued to preach
is that there's still plenty of playmakers left on this roster.
So it is just about finishing the year on a
high note. You know, the forty nine ers didn't get
the season that they wanted, but there is still opportunity
(10:29):
to play for pride, played for the logo, play for
the fans. Obviously, they're playing on the road, but the
Faithful are such an enthusiastic fan base that you can
expect a lot of them to be there in Arizona.
Especially since it is a close West Coast game, so
I think it is really about just finishing strong in
twenty twenty four.
Speaker 1 (10:47):
Absolutely, it's going to be a good one this Sunday.
Thank you Craig for joining us today, Faithful, don't forget
to tune into the Niners versus Cardinals game on Fox
at one twenty five pm Pacific time. Dribe to First
and ten presented by Cisco for all of your forty
nine ers updates, and turn on the notifications for any
breaking news. Thanks for tuning in.
Hello, and welcome to the forty nine Ers First and
ten podcast, presented by Cisco. Ten minutes of the most
up to date forty nine Ers news First Thing in
the morning. I'm your host Brian McDonald and joining me
today is forty nine Ers team reporter Lindsay Polares and
special guest from the Arizona Cardinals, Craig Rilu. Craig, thanks
(00:30):
for joining us today, My pleasure amazing. So both teams
are yearing up for the twenty twenty four season finale
this Sunday, so let's dive right into this week eighteen contest. Lindsay,
to start, it looks like quarterback Rock Party will be
sidelined and Josh Shabs will be taken over as the
Niners quarterback for this final game. Could you tell us
(00:52):
a little bit more on Perdy's injury and how has
Dobbs been preparing for this role.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
Yeah, so rock Perty is dealing with right elbow contusion,
also dealing with some nerve inflammation. I think, just given
where the forty nine Ers are at this point of
the season, this is the last game of the year.
Postseason is not on the table for this year, So yes,
the forty nine Ers are going with Josh Dobbs. Head
(01:19):
coach Kyle Shanahan talked a little bit about his decision. Obviously,
Josh Dobbs has that dual threat ability, whereas Brandon Allen
is more of a traditional pocket passer. He said that
he's viewed both quarterbacks as his number two this year.
There is some decision making that went into what the
offensive line will look like in Week eighteen. You know,
(01:41):
I know last week Colton mckivitt's the starting right tackle,
was able to suit up. He has not practiced the
last two days, so it is going to be interesting
to see where the pass protection is. Obviously, the line
did very well in Week seventeen against the Detroit Lions,
but you definitely want a quarterback that can extend play,
and Josh Dobbs certainly brings that. He has been with
(02:03):
the team all season long, had his first appearance in
Week seventeen, and he's going to be the guy suiting
up for this season finale. We heard from guys like
George Kittle Juwan Jennings who are all very excited to
see what he brings to the field this week. For
Juwan Jennings especially, he's a former teammate of Dobbs, played
a couple seasons with him at Tennessee. He's definitely looking
(02:25):
forward to playing with Dobbs in the season finale.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
All right, Yeah, Now, looking at the Cardinals offense, Craig
Trey McBride has had an exceptional season, including making the
Pro Bowl and breaking records for tight ends. How do
you think McBride will approach this final game and what
does he need to do to build momentum heading into
the offseason.
Speaker 3 (02:46):
Well, the one thing he doesn't have to worry about
is that he has got his first receiving touchdown of
the season, and he did that last week, so that
has crossed off the list of things that needed to
happen before the end of the season. But he has
been the guy for much of this season and he's
darn near closed to breaking the single season tight end
record for receptions in the league. We'll see what brock
(03:07):
Bauers does with the Las Vegas Raiders coming up on Sunday.
But it's again what we've heard all week long is
making sure you finish on a positive note. Obviously the
goal is to win, but to keep stacking those performances
even though momentum doesn't carry over into the offseason, confidence
does and gets continuing to build confidence, especially we forget
(03:30):
McBride is still relatively young. It's his third season, but
he hasn't been a full season starter for very many
years in this league, so he still feels that he
can get better now.
Speaker 1 (03:42):
While we're taking a look at tight ends, George Kittle
has had another standout season, reaching one thousand yards for
the fourth time in his career. Given the lack of
playoff pressure, how do you expect Kittle to approach this
final gave him of the season and what role will
he play in helping set the ton for this game?
Speaker 2 (03:59):
Lindsay, Yeah, you know, I think with George Kittle, one
of my favorite things that he says, and he says
it a lot, is that he goes into every game
thinking it's a winnable game and that the forty nine
ers are going to do what's necessary to win. That's
not going to change in Week eighteen, despite what this
season looks like and kind of has panned out to be.
(04:20):
So expect that same competitive fire from George Kittle. Like
you mentioned, he's already hit that thousand yard mark for
the fourth time.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
In his career.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
He's one of five tight ends in NFL history to
be able to hit that thousand yard receiving for four
seasons in their career, so a huge congratulations to him.
He was named one of four Pro Bowlers for the
forty nine Ers. But for him, it is really, like
Craig said, stacking the success that he has found this season,
and I'm playing to win, playing for pride. He is
(04:52):
a person that reps that forty nine Ers logo harder
than really anyone else and that isn't going to waiver
in Week eighteen regardless of kind of what's on what's
at stake for this team, and I think he has
been a really big source of inspiration and leadership for
the rest of this team that takes the field. So yeah,
I think expect a lot more competitive fire that you know,
(05:16):
the George Kittle isms that we hear every single week,
and I think he's very much rooting on guys around
him that are very close to those really big benchmarks,
like Juwan Jennings, who is seventy seven yards of that
thousand yards receiving for the first time in his career.
So just expect more of the same from George Kittle
in the best way possible.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
Awesome. Yeah, we're talking Pro Bowlers and Pro Bowl rosters
were announced yesterday. Alongside George Kittle, Nick Bosa, Kyle Uschek,
and Fred Warner were also selected to the twenty twenty
five Pro Bowl, with Leonard Floyd Diamed, Leonor rock Perty,
and Trent Williams named as alternates for Arizona. Safety Budda
Baker made the cut with Trey McBride, and the Cardinals
(05:59):
also got three alternates kick returner DJ Dallas, left tackle
Paris Johnson Junior, and kicker Chad Ryland. So, with it
being the final game of this season, Craig, how much
motivation do you expect from honestly each side to finish
strong in this finale? Tell me about the extra emphasis
on ending the season with a win, especially with what's
at stake for these players individually.
Speaker 3 (06:21):
Yeah, there's no guarantee that there is a next season
for a lot of players. You can play your way
into the league, remain in the league, or you can
play your way out of the league. And I think
that's something that's been preached all week long, really all
season long, to make sure that each and every week
you bring it as a coach, as a player for
the Cardinals, specifically, a win on Sunday, you double your
(06:42):
win total from a year ago, you finish five hundred
within the NFC West after not winning a single division
game a year ago. And then I think it's important
to send the fans home happy. It's the final home
game of the regular season. A win on Sunday, that
six wins at State Farm Stadium this sea, which has
not been done since twenty fifteen. So again, there's some
(07:04):
tangible aspects to get a victory on Sunday moving into
the offseason and hopefully building upon how you finish a
regular season going into the offseason.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
And Lindsey, how important is this game for evaluating the
depth and young talent on the Niners roster? Are there
any particular players look you're looking at to make a
statement in this game? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (07:26):
I think this is a bit of a twofold game
of for younger players especially. We heard the veteran players
talk a lot about how the rookie wall is a
real thing that younger players have to push through and
this is the longest season of football that they have
played so far in their careers. So being able to
play at a high level, like we keep talking about,
(07:48):
finishing on a high note, is a real thing that
you want to see from them this late in the year.
And I think you talk about younger players. You've got
wide receiver Ricky Piersal. He gets to go back to
his home state play at State Farm Arena. He told
me it's his first time actually playing there. He's going
to have fifty five members of his family just on
his mom's side that are going to watch him play.
(08:09):
So this is a really big career moment for him.
And he's coming off his career best performance in Week seventeen.
He hat over one hundred and forty yards receiving a touchdown.
He wants to keep stacking those successes. Same goes for
Jacob Cowing, also in Arizona Native. He has been the
forty nine ers punt returner this year. He wants to
get more reps out wide receiver. Then you've got guys
(08:30):
like Madlik Mustafa and Ernardo Green who have been really
integral parts of the forty nine ers secondary this year.
Due to injuries, they just want to keep that pace
and momentum that they have had for the rest of
the year, head into the off season with a lot
of confidence, and I think this is the time to
do it. Week eighteen. It's your last go at it,
So yeah, let's get it done.
Speaker 1 (08:51):
Definitely, And we've been talking about it all morning. Now
this is the twenty twenty four regular season finale, So Craig,
what's the biggest way you want to look for it
in this final game that will help both teams as
they look ahead to twenty twenty five.
Speaker 3 (09:06):
I think a key is going to be who takes
advantage of their opportunities, who takes advantage of their snaps.
No James Connor this week for the Cardinals, so Michael
Carter won't get another opportunity for the second straight week
to kind of fill those shoes. Is he someone that
this team looks forward to next season? And also keeping
an eye on Kelvin Beacham's status as far as the
(09:28):
Cardinals left tackle is concerned. He's been dealing with a
knee issue. If he can't go, then it would likely
be rookie Christian Jones getting the start and another opportunity
to showcase what he's capable of doing. He got one
series in last week against the Rams, but Obviously, if
Beach is not able to go, then that's even a
bigger load for Christian Jones, one of those draft picks
(09:49):
from a year ago that has been waiting for an opportunity.
And that's, as Jonathan Ganna likes to say, are you
maximizing your opportunity when it presents itself, And this on
Sunday is another opportunity for a lot of young players.
Speaker 1 (10:02):
Definitely, And lindsay, what's your biggest takeaway from this final
game before looking ahead to twenty twenty five.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
I think it's just effort level. You know, this is
a team that has faced a ton of injuries this year,
and one thing that the veterans have continued to preach
is that there's still plenty of playmakers left on this roster.
So it is just about finishing the year on a
high note. You know, the forty nine ers didn't get
the season that they wanted, but there is still opportunity
(10:29):
to play for pride, played for the logo, play for
the fans. Obviously, they're playing on the road, but the
Faithful are such an enthusiastic fan base that you can
expect a lot of them to be there in Arizona.
Especially since it is a close West Coast game, so
I think it is really about just finishing strong in
twenty twenty four.
Speaker 1 (10:47):
Absolutely, it's going to be a good one this Sunday.
Thank you Craig for joining us today, Faithful, don't forget
to tune into the Niners versus Cardinals game on Fox
at one twenty five pm Pacific time. Dribe to First
and ten presented by Cisco for all of your forty
nine ers updates, and turn on the notifications for any
breaking news. Thanks for tuning in.
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