San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan. David Gonzales-Imagn Images

This critical matchup will determine whether 49ers will beat Cardinals

Originally posted on San Francisco 49ers on SI
By Parker Hurley | Last updated Sep 19, 2025 3:44 PM ET

Two units that have been surprisingly good this season are going to square off when the San Francisco 49ers host the Arizona Cardinals in Week 2. According to Pro Football Focus, whoever wins when the Cardinals' pass rush squares off with the 49ers' pass protection is going to decide the outcome of the game.

Headlined by Trent Williams, the 49ers have earned the second-highest PFF pass-blocking grade in the NFL (78.0) through two weeks.

On the other side of the ball, a revamped Cardinals pass rush is producing strong results behind the play of Josh Sweat and Calais Campbell. Jonathan Gannon tends to not blitz, leaving it to his front four to generate pressure, with their 39 pressures without blitzing ranking as the second most in the NFLMason Cameron

Can the San Francisco 49ers pass protection lead them to 3-0?

The Cardinals lean on getting home with four because they like to rotate their defensive line a lot. Josh Sweat, Baron Browning, Jordan Burch, and Zaven Collins all average between 32 and 43 snaps per game through two weeks, and Burch has the least amount of pressure of the four, with four.

Collins has seven in a rotational role, and while Browning and Sweat start and have ten and nine pressures, respectively, they get enough of a rest due to Burch and Collins that they are always coming at your offensive tackles fresh.

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The same can be said of the interior. Darius Robinson, Dante Stills, Calais Campbell, and Dalvin Tomlinson all play between 32 and 43 snaps. They are not getting the same amount of pressure from the interior as the edges, but as PFF mentions, Campbell looks good again this season with four pressures, two sacks, and even five run stops this season.

Campbell is going to see a good bit of rookie Connor Colby. Colby held up well in his limited time in Week 2, but this is a much tougher test, especially because Campbell will play only about half the snaps, and when he does, he will be fresh.

Trent Williams struggled in Week 1 against a smaller and faster rusher in Boye Mafe. He looked a lot better against power rushers such as Cameron Jordan and Carl Granderson. However, both Collins and Browning were former linebackers, and they are both a bit undersized and fast. This will be a huge matchup for Williams.

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McKivitz has held up at times in pass protection so far this season, but it is clear that the team will lean on him more this week, and with both George Kittle and Kyle Juszczyk out, he will be getting a little bit less help.

Mac Jones held the ball too long on all of his sacks last week. If he holds the ball too long this week, it may result in twice as many sacks if San Francisco is not careful.

This article first appeared on San Francisco 49ers on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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