Seahawks move into 1st place without playing

Even though they’re on their bye-week, the Seattle Seahawks manage to move passed the LA Rams in the standings and into first place.

Remember when the NFC West was a really tough division? Those days were fun, but they are clearly over. Now it is a division where not playing allows you to move up in the standings.

That is exactly what the Seattle Seahawks did this week. While they rested and got healthy during their bye week, the still managed to jump over the Rams and into first place in the division.

This happened because the Rams were blown out at home 30-19 against the fairly mediocre Buffalo Bills team. That dropped the Rams to 3-2, as their inevitable slide back to .500 is underway.

Seattle and LA had the same record heading into the week. The Rams held the tiebreaker over Seattle because of their win over the Seahawks back in Week 2.

Elsewhere in the division, the Cardinals finally got on track a bit by beating up on the hapless 49ers. The Cardinals still have their problems, but playing the 49ers has a way of fixing what’s been going wrong.

Arizona is still 2-3 and haven’t looked like the team that appeared in the NFC Championship game last season. There are now whispers that Carson Palmer’s grip on the starting QB job isn’t particularly secure.

For the second-straight season, the San Francisco 49ers seem to have peaked in Week 1. After dismantling the Rams in the season opener, the 49ers have looked like a a team destined to pick in the top 3 in the draft.

That isn’t necessarily a bad thing for the 49ers though. They’re desperate for a QB, and should be in position to draft one next April.

Next: Seahawks continue to move up the DVOA rankings

Overall, all this means that the Seahawks now lead a division that doesn’t appear to have anyone who can challenge them. That is a big change from the last four years.