A Huge Weekend in the NFC West
The NFC West is the winningest division in the NFL after nine weeks with 21 total wins gathered between the Seattle Seahawks, Los Angeles Rams, San Francisco 49ers and Arizona Cardinals. The Seahawks, Rams and 49ers have six wins each, while the Cardinals have three. This Sunday the four teams of the NFC West will face off in two games that are do or die for some and a further chance to gain a head of steam for others.
Seattle Seahawks vs Arizona Cardinals, Sunday @ 21.05
The Seahawks are on a three game winning streak as they sit at the top of the NFC West, while the Cardinals bring up the rear of the division after grabbing their third win of the season on Monday Night Football. This match-up is one we have already seen this season with the two teams separated by just three points in Arizona during their Thursday Night Football showdown in week four.
The previous game saw the Cardinals come back from 20-6 down in the fourth quarter to tie the game with 28 seconds left, before a walk-off 52-yard field goal from Jason Myers won it for Seattle 23-20. This time around the end result may wind up being the same, but the story will certainly be different. Arizona has shifted their gameplan since that week four defeat, with Jacoby Brissett now leading the team at quarterback.
Kyler Murray has been placed on injured reserve for at least the next four weeks, but with how things have been going in Arizona for head coach Jonathan Gannon this may turn into a benching for Murray down the line, which will become even more likely should Brissett provide a consistent offensive spark. So far, the change at quarterback has promised to offer more life to last year’s fourth overall pick, Marvin Harrison Jr. who had 96 yards and a touchdown on a team high ten targets, in Monday’s win over the Cowboys.
Despite the new found hope for the Cardinals, Seattle are growing to be a stronger force with every passing week and they will certainly be tough to beat once again on Sunday. The Seahawks are the fifth highest scoring offense in the league, putting up 28.9 points per game, while their defense is following suit, allowing the fifth least points per game to opponents at 18.8.
Both sides of the ball for Seattle are elite and while the defense has made things easier for Sam Darnold’s offense to win games this season, the reality is he hasn’t needed too many extra opportunities with the ball in his hands. The Seahawks offense, led by Darnold, currently leads the league in explosive plays, with forty plays of twenty or more yards on the season so far. This will only increase with the blistering speed of Rashid Shaheed added at the trade deadline.
This game is one that the Cardinals simply need to win, having gone 0-2 so far against divisional opponents. If they lose this on Sunday, Arizona will have likely already slipped too far behind in the race to make the playoffs in a very strong NFC. The Seahawks on the other hand do not necessarily need to win this game, but they would without question love to get another win on the board, with every game against opponents in this tough division marking an opportunity to solidify their position at the top of the standings.
My prediction: The spread here has the Seahawks favoured by 6.5 points and it’s one that I think they will cover. This team has been putting up points while shutting down opponents with ease and I’ve got them bringing Jacoby Brissett back down to earth a little bit, winning by at least a touchdown on Sunday.
San Francisco 49ers vs Los Angeles Rams, Sunday @ 21.25
This match-up is also one that we have already seen on Thursday Night Football this season. In week five the 49ers eked out a 26-23 victory in overtime, despite having a number of high profile injuries leading into the game. Back-up quarterback Mac Jones threw for 342 yards, with their fourth choice wide receiver Kendrick Bourne snagging ten catches for 142 yards in an unexpected victory.
Rams head coach Sean McVay will be aiming to gain his revenge on Kyle Shanahan and the 49ers, as the latter now has an 11-7 all-time record in their head-to-head series. Both McVay and Shanahan were hired to their current positions as first-time head coaches in 2017 and have held the same positions that they are in now ever since.
The pair worked closely in Washington in 2010 when Kyle’s father Mike hired McVay to be the assistant tight ends coach, while Kyle was the offensive coordinator at the time. The two have delivered some incredible tactical battles over the years and this game is destined to be another installment in that sequence of top class football between the two west coast powerhouses.
So far this season the 49ers have experienced a growing list of injuries to add to their off-season loss of star contributors, yet Shanahan has guided them to a 6-3 record as things stand. In recent weeks San Francisco saw the return of key offensive players George Kittle and Jauan Jennings, but there has still been no confirmation that starting quarterback Brock Purdy is ready to go having missed seven games already this season.
Mac Jones has proved to be a more than serviceable back-up, leading the depleted side to a 5-2 record in his starts while throwing for 1,832 yards and ten touchdowns. Jones has boasted a career low 2% throw interception rate under the guidance of Shanahan, who was an admirer of Mac when he came out of college in 2021. Shanahan seems to have turned around the quarterback’s fortunes on what is the third team of his five year NFL career.
The Rams will not be too concerned about the successes of Mac Jones, they will only be worried about making the San Francisco quarterback as uncomfortable as possible and increasing that interception percentage of his a few notches in the process. LA have a superb young defense, allowing the second least points per game to opponents with only 15.9. They have put up the third most sacks across the NFL too, with 27 in total (this is the same number as the aforementioned Seahawks).
On the other side of the ball, they certainly have a capable quarterback of their own in Matt Stafford. The sixteen year veteran has seemingly not been affected by the injuries that troubled him throughout the offseason, as he leads the league in yards per game (268.4) and touchdown passes (21), while only throwing two interceptions in his first eight games. The man is simply a machine and sits firmly in the MVP conversation at 37 years of age.
It’s hard to say which team a win would matter more to in this one. The Rams seem like a team that is destined for another deep playoff run regardless of any result that they may have at this point in the season, but the mental boost a win over their rival 49ers would give them could be invaluable. The same could also be said for San Francisco themselves, who would gain huge confidence from going 2-0 on the season against the Rams. A win here would also see the 49ers hold a 4-0 record against NFC West opponents heading into week eleven, as they continue in their quest for a Shanahan led Super Bowl ring.
My prediction: The spread for this game is closer than the other NFC West match-up with the Rams favoured by 4.5 points over the 49ers. This is definitely a line that I am more than willing to take a punt on. Whether it is Mac Jones or the return of Brock Purdy in San Francisco, I can see the Rams defense giving Stafford and McVay more than enough favourable field position in order for them to dial up the necessary plays to win this one by more than five.