Monday Night Football Week One Preview - Arizona Cardinals and San Francisco 49ers

The Arizona Cardinals and second year star Matt Leinart will travel to Monster Park in San Francisco on Monday Night Football to take on the 49ers in a match up of up and coming teams. Both of these teams are expected to improve drastically this season and both are very good offensive teams. They should have a good old fashioned shoot out with a ton of points put on the board.

Arizona is still trying to establish themselves as they have a ton of weapons on offense. They have Leinart, and former superstar back Edgerrin James, as well as several top of the line receivers to throw to. Anquan Boldin and Larry Fitzgerald lining up at receiver has to scare the rest of the league. Both are top shelf threats in an offense that needs to only find the running game consistently to be able to utilize them fully. The defense in Arizona is average at best, but should be able to give the Cardinals a chance to win with some points. The biggest problem that Arizona continues to face is the offensive line. They are making strides but need to take a giant step forward to give Leinart a chance to succeed. Given time to throw, Leinart can be in the Pro Bowl.

The San Francisco 49ers also are growing but took a large step towards being a contender now last season as the young quarterback Alex Smith came into his own. They also sport the best running back in the NFC with superstar Frank Gore. They too have some weaknesses on defense and need to upgrade quickly to have a chance in the NFC West this season. The offensive line really came together last season and helped Gore to run over the rest of the league. He was simply fantastic in every aspect, and should be even better this season. The 49ers also picked up two new receivers in the off season with Darrell Jackson, and Ashlie Lelie. They should provide young quarterback Smith with some able targets, and free up Gore with some down the field receptions. The 49ers desperately need one of these two to stretch the field, and keep the safeties back and not up on the line stacked against the run.