![Bruce might be losing in the end. [Image by Gage Skidwmore / Wikimedia Commons]](https://staticr1.blastingcdn.com/media/photogallery/2017/10/2/660x290/b_502x220x82/bruce-might-be-losing-in-the-end-gage-skidwmore-via-wikimedia-commons_1606971.jpg "Bruce might be losing in the end. [Image by Gage Skidwmore / Wikimedia Commons]")
The Arizona Cardinals beat the San Francisco 49ers, but that does not mean anything considering the Cardinals should be so much better than the 49ers. Winning by 18-15 is just not enough if you are the Cardinals and want to be competitive this season. The Cardinals should be able to score more points even if they do not have David Johnson, but it appears that they have some things they need to change if they want to get right before this season ends. The 49ers seem to be in the right place of their development, and we simply need to see what would happen if they had a real quarterback and more draft picks.
The 49ers are not bad
Obviously, the 49ers are not any good, but they are not as terrible as the moribund Bengals or Giants. Look at how bad those teams are and compare to the 49ers. The 49ers at least have a plan, and it appears that they know how to draft. Well, that seems a bit more hopeful than other teams in the league, and the 49ers only lost by a field goal. In a game that had a lot of kicking, the 49ers were able to stay in it. The Cardinals should have more depth to deal with a team like this, but they did not. Therefore, we can assume that the 49ers are at least on the right track even if they are not good yet.
David Johnson matters
We all knew that the Cardinals would miss David Johnson when he got hurt, but I do not think that anyone thought it would be this bad.
There is no way in the world that the Cardinals should be this bad just because they lost their feature running back. They have Carson Palmer and Larry Fitzgerald. Is that not enough for them? That would have been more than sufficient to remain very competitive, but they seem to have shifted. Palmer and Fitzgerald are getting older, and David Johnson was the bridge to the future.
With no running back, it appears this offense no longer works in the modern NFL.
What can be done?
They would have to retool the whole offense in Arizona, and I do not think that is going to happen. The 49ers are going to keep doing whatever it was they were doing in the first place. They will continue on this path that will make them very competitive in a couple of years, and they will have so much depth that we will not know what to do with them.
They will then have to figure out how to pay all those guys, but that is still a better situation than what Arizona finds itself. Perhaps this franchise needs to start looking for their players of the future. The USC Heisman winner in Carson Palmer is looking a little old, and we all know that Larry Fitzgerald is pretty close to retirement. This Cardinals team is going to be a shell of itself, and the 49ers might end up the deepest in the league.
