San Francisco 49ers vs. Arizona Cardinals FREE LIVE STREAM (1/5/25): Watch NFL Week 18 online | Time, TV, Channel

The San Francisco 49ers, led by quarterback Joshua Dobbs, meet the Arizona Cardinals, led by quarterback Kyler Murray in Week 18 of the NFL season

The San Francisco 49ers, led by quarterback Joshua Dobbs, meet the Arizona Cardinals, led by quarterback Kyler Murray in Week 18 of the NFL season on Sunday, Jan. 5, 2024 (1/5/25) at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz.

Neither the Arizona Cardinals or San Francisco 49ers will be headed to the playoffs this season, but when rivals collide, like these two will at 4:25 p.m. Eastern Sunday on FOX, you can throw the record books out the window.

Several streaming services will broadcast the game live and you can watch on Fubo (free trial), DirecTV Stream (free trial) and Sling (promotional offers).

If the Week 17 matchup against the Detroit Lions was any indication, the 49ers aren’t just packing their things and getting ready for their offseason vacations.

Coming off of the bitter memory of losing Super Bowl LVIII in overtime, the San Francisco 49ers' goal for the 2024 season could not have been more simple: Get back to the Super Bowl and win it. But as the regular season draws to close, the Niners' reality could not be further from what they had envisioned for themselves.

After winning the NFC West two years in a row and at times looking like an unstoppable force, the 49ers have crashed back down to Earth this season and carry a measly 6-10 record into their season finale against the Arizona Cardinals having already been eliminated from playoff contention. Injuries have been a considerable part of San Francisco's undoing, but they also enter their finale with a -24 point differential and simply have not been nearly as dominant as they had been over the course of a year and a half run that saw them make the NFC Championship Game twice and advance to the Super Bowl just 11 months ago.

While the Cardinals have made progress in their second year under coach Jonathan Gannon, they will also end the 2024 season with the disappointment of not making the playoffs, having been eliminated after a loss to the Carolina Panthers two weeks ago. Arizona will finish with a sub-.500 record of 8-9 or 7-10, but it will surely settle for the opportunity to beat San Francisco and sweep its division rivals.

The model has simulated Cardinals vs. 49ers 10,000 times and the results are in. The model is leaning Over, and it's also generated a point-spread pick that is hitting in well over 50% of simulations. You can only see the pick at SportsLine.

So who wins 49ers vs. Cardinals on Sunday, and which side of the spread cashes in well over 50% of simulations? Visit SportsLine right now to see which side of the Arizona vs. San Francisco spread you should be all over Sunday, all from the model on a 210-142 roll on its top-rated NFL picks, and find out.

49ers player to watch

QB Joshua Dobbs. With starter Brock Purdy out with an elbow injury, Dobbs will make his first start for San Francisco. Dobbs started eight games for Arizona last season before being traded to Minnesota. He has a 77.5 career passer rating with 15 TD passes, 13 interceptions and 5.8 yards per attempt in 14 starts.

Cardinals players to watch

TE Trey McBride. He’s been one of the NFL’s best tight ends this season and became just the 10th tight end in NFL history to top 100 receptions in a season during his 12-catch game against the Rams last week. The 25-year-old is hard to bring down, with 480 of his 1,081 yards receiving coming after the catch.

Key matchup

QB Kyler Murray vs. San Francisco’s defense. Murray’s had some trouble taking care of the football over the past 1 1/2 months, throwing five TDs and eight INTs over the past six games. The Niners defense has been one of the best in the NFL against the pass this season.