3 Immediate Takeaways on Marvin Harrison Jr.'s Injury

The Arizona Cardinals will be without Marvin Harrison Jr. in their Week 11 outing against the San Francisco 49ers, according to head coach Jonathan Gannon.

Gannon told reporters Harrison had appendicitis surgery earlier this week. It's unknown if he'll miss more time.

This, obviously, puts Arizona at an even greater disadvantage ahead of Sunday.

Three thoughts with Harrison now officially ruled out:

Trey McBride Needs to Have Historic Numbers

Trey McBride typically gets fed in Arizona's offense - though with Harrison, Zay Jones and Simi Fehoko not available, the Cardinals' passing attack suddenly is even more restricted than usual.

Case in point, McBride will have to be fed often in order for Arizona to keep pace.

The good news? McBride has proven to be capable of handling that workload, as he's established himself as one of the top players at his position and is undoubtedly their most impactful player on that side of the ball.

He'll get more attention than most weeks, but the Cardinals can't shy away from giving McBride video game numbers against San Francisco.

Defense Has to Play Perfect

On the other side of the coin, Arizona's defense will have to step up now more than ever.

Typically they've been fine this season, though injuries have also racked that side of the ball.

We don't know the status of Will Johnson and Max Melton this week after both were inactive on Sunday while Mack Wilson has already been ruled out. Baron Browning is in concussion protocol, too.

Against a Kyle Shanahan offense, the Cardinals aren't equipped to win a track meet against the 49ers.

Simply put, Arizona has to get their best defensive output of the season to have a chance to win - and that's much easier said than done.

Cardinals' Offense is Doomed

Yikes.

The Cardinals haven't been able to run the ball this season, as a slew of injuries to the running back spot on top of poor offensive line player has really made their one calling card mute.

The offense turned the corner in recent weeks as Jacoby Brissett took over, though now Arizona's receiving corps has been turned to practical scraps when evaluating the group as a whole.

While Michael Wilson and Greg Dortch have previously shown they can produce, their new co-stars in Andre Baccellia and Xavier Weaver have yet to do so in an NFL game.

Against a Robert Saleh-coached unit, the sledding will be even tougher than usual. I don't see a way out for this Cardinals offense on Sunday.

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