Baldy: Why 49ers should want to face Cardinals’ Kyler Murray, not Colt McCoy

Colt McCoy completed 26 of his 37 pass attempts for 238 yards and a touchdown in the Arizona Cardinals’ 27-17 win over the Los Angeles Rams last weekend. McCoy has been limited in practices this week as he works through a knee injury suffered in that game. The Cardinals’ regular starting quarterback, Kyler Murray, is dealing with a hamstring injury that kept him out against the Rams.

One of the two quarterbacks is expected to play against the San Francisco 49ers on Monday night in Mexico City. We just don’t know which one yet.

“They’re still going to run a similar offense with both, so, schematically, you’ve got to be ready,” head coach Kyle Shanahan said this week. “There’s definitely some different skill sets and stuff, but we saw both last year. Our defense knows, from going against both of them, they’re both a problem, and you’ve got to be ready for both.”

One respected NFL analyst believes the 49ers should want to face Murray on Monday night, not McCoy.

“If you watched that game against the Rams last weekend, Colt McCoy played a great game,” Brian Baldinger told 95.7 The Game’s Damon Bruce and Ray Ratto this week. “And, to me, if I was the 49ers, after watching Colt play, I think I’d rather play against Kyler.”

Murray is seen as a more unpredictable quarterback. He can use his feet when things break down, and defenses typically have difficulty reaching him when that happens. But McCoy impressed Baldinger enough against the Rams that the analyst believes Murray is the least dangerous matchup for the Niners.

“I know [Murray is] a threat to break the pocket, do all the things he can do, because he’s just a freak athlete,” Baldinger explained. “But Colt McCoy is exactly what would give the 49ers a problem. The guy got the ball out of his hands fast. His two starting receivers caught 19 passes. DeAndre Hopkins caught 10. The second-year player (Rondale Moore) caught nine. He got the ball to his wide receivers, and he got it out of his hands and was barely touched. [Rams DT] Aaron Donald had no effect on him.

“To me, that’s what I would want when I’m going against [DE] Nick Bosa and those guys up front. I want the ball out of my hands fast, and I want it in the receivers’ hands quickly, and that’s something that Kyler Murray kind of struggles with sometimes.”

You can listen to the entire interview with Baldinger below.

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