NFC West Roundup: Rams help Seattle gain ground
By Keith Myers
The Seattle Seahawks were able to escape with a win against the Lions last night. That win got them up to 2-2 and close to the top of the NFC West. It also helped to erase the horrible 0-2 start to the season.
Just as important was that the Arizona Cardinals finally lost. The St. Louis Rams did the Seahawks a huge favor by knocking off the division leader. Seattle is now just one game back of the Cardinals.
Division Standings
W | L | T | Pct | PF | PA | Pt Dif | |
Arizona Cardinals | 3 | 1 | 0 | .750 | 148 | 73 | 75 |
Seattle Seahawks | 2 | 2 | 0 | .500 | 87 | 71 | 16 |
St. Louis Rams | 2 | 2 | 0 | .500 | 74 | 89 | -15 |
San Francisco 49ers | 1 | 3 | 0 | .250 | 48 | 110 | -62 |
San Francisco Update
Everyone expected the 49ers to be bad. Did anyone expect them to be this bad?
The 49ers offense looked terrible against the Green Bay Packers in a 17-3 loss at home. They managed just 194 total yards, and could not move the football at all. Quarterback Colin Kaepernick has regressed into being a shadow of his former self.
Lost in their offensive ineptness is that the 49ers defense has been surprisingly competent. Take holding the Packers to 17 points with a grain of salt since the Packers spent most the 2nd half just trying to run out the clock, but the 49ers defenders still make plenty of plays.
St. Louis Update
The Rams seem to play well against the NFC West, and then look like an awful team the rest of the year. This week they were playing Arizona, so the good version of the Rams showed up.
The Rams finally got rookie RB Todd Gurley going, and it was an interesting site. Gurley gashed the Cardinals for big gains, and that helped to open up the Rams’ anemic passing game. Gurley is the type of back that makes the entire offense better.
Unfortunately for St. Louis, Gurley won’t suddenly make Nick Foles a good QB. As long as Foles is the man under center, they won’t be a team that’ll contend for a Super Bowl.
Arizona Update
The Arizona Cardinals finally played a team that wasn’t awful and they struggled their way to a loss. They still battled back and had a shot to win in the end, so the tales of their demise are greatly exaggerated.
This big issue that was unearthed though was a porous run defense. Todd Gurley completely ran over the Cardinals in the second half. This is something they’ll have to address or they’ll find it much hard to win games in the future.
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