Seattle Seahawks News: The NFC West Birds are the teams to beat

While the Seattle Seahawks celebrated an overtime victory over the the great Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos, there was another celebration exactly 1,421 miles away in the city of Glendale, Ariz.

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Why? The Arizona Cardinals, one of the three loaded NFC West squads, topped the San Francisco 49ers in a key home matchup. The win put the Cardinals squarely atop the competitive NFC West with a 3-0 record, and the Seahawks right behind at 2-1.

The 49ers are 1-2.

I guess I’m tooting my own horn here, but my prediction of playoff berths for the Seahawks and Arizona and a 1-4 start for the San Francisco 49ers looks pretty good right now. The Philadelphia Eagles go to Levi’s next week with their 3-0 record on the line.

The potent Eagles offense has looked like heaven on a football field so far this season, with LeSean McCoy, Jeremy Maclin, Nick Foles, Darren Sproles… need I go on?

When NaVorro Bowman went down with his horrific knee injury, I knew the San Francisco defense would fall apart. Even though Patrick Willis is still there, the once stout defense no longer looks the same without Bowman, its real leader. Drew Stanton threw for two TDs against this defense, I can only imagine what Foles will do next week.

The San Francisco offense looks lost: Frank Gore and Carlos Hyde combine for only 23 yards. Colin Kaepernick has a 1:1 touchdown to turnover ratio. Vernon Davis is still hurt.

They are the only team in the NFL that has yet to score a second half point. The offense was putrid during the preseason, and it has been just as putrid this season. They’ve managed to score only six touchdowns against two horrific defenses and one stout one.

That’s why the 49ers should no longer be considered locks for a postseason spot. This team just does not look the same. No grit. No fire. No blue collar work ethic. Just emptiness.

But now, to the “birds,” or should I say “swans” of the NFC West: the Seattle Seahawks and the Arizona Cardinals. Arizona looked fantastic as they fought back from an early deficit. Drew Stanton turned it on in the second half as he threw for 244 yards and two scores against the Niners defense.

Diminutive back Andre Ellington rushed for 62 yards on 18 carries, an unusually high number of yards against the physical Niners defense. Michael Floyd is finally turning into the receiver that was advertised before the 2012 draft, gashing the porous Niner secondary for 114 yards.

The defense looks stout, even with the slew of injuries it endured before the season. Patrick Peterson is a superstar, Tyrann Mathieu is getting there quickly, and Antonio Cromartie is his reliable self. The defense held the powerful running backs of the 49ers to only 23 yards. Talk about a defensive performance.

That team, with the plethora of weapons it has, looks like a real contender for the NFC West Title.

The defending champs need to be on notice.

The Seahawks looked like their old selves after a shocking loss to the San Diego Chargers in Week 2. Marshawn Lynch, who had 128 total yards and two scores, looked like himself as he dove into the end zone for the game-winning touchdown.

Seahawks fans might as well call Russell Wilson, Money Wilson, because that’s exactly what he was on the Seahawks’ 80-yard, game-ending drive.

The defense looks like the Seattle Seahawks again, with Kam Chancellor recording a key interception and the defense coming up with several stops throughout the contest.

They looked like the Super Bowl champions again.

Now, it is early in the year, but it will be very hard for the Cardinals to regress when Carson Palmer returns from a shoulder injury and it will be hard for the Seahawks to regress in general.

The Niners on the other hand, have yet to show any speck of offensive improvement in three weeks. That’s worrisome.

The Seattle Seahawks take on Washington in Week 5, while the Cardinals travel to Denver to play the Broncos. Both matchups are winnable games for both teams.

So the Cardinals and Seahawks are soaring atop the NFC West, seemingly floating towards the postseason in September.

The 49ers, on the other hand, are slaving away in the mines, searching endlessly for the fool’s gold that will never appear.