NFC West Notebook―Special L.A. Confident(ial) Edition

Ladies and Gentlemen, your current NFC West leaders—the Los Angeles Rams

There isn’t much to say here, other than the Rams really did a number on the Indianapolis Colts. 46-9 is a deeply embarrassing loss, especially from a Rams team not known for putting up gaudy numbers like that.

Jared Goff threw for more than 300 yards and a touchdown (to Cooper Kupp, who I mentioned a few weeks back as a sleeper fantasy option). Todd Gurley mixed it up, getting almost as many yards rushing as he did receiving. Wade Phillips’ defense looked very good, taking two interceptions back for touchdowns, and even forcing a safety, all without Aaron Donald. If you wanted to watch a fine-tuned machine during Week 1, you would have been a lot happier watching McVay’s Rams than you would the New England Patriots.

And no, the Indianapolis Colts aren’t exactly a formidable opponent, especially without Andrew Luck. But to win a game by 37 points, lead by a feisty defensive group and a young quarterback with a ton of upside… yeah, you can’t ask for much more than that if you’re a Los Angeles sports fan.

I think we’ll start to see if that throttling of the Colts was beginner’s luck pretty soon, though.

Washington may prove a bit of a challenge, but the Rams will get a look at Kirk Cousins and company at home, which helps. Vegas is picking the Rams to win, which echoes the fan polling over at ESPN. It’ll be interesting to see what Wade Phillips’ group can do against Kirk Cousins and Jordan Reed, as that offense will bring a fair amount more firepower to the Coliseum than Scott Tolzien and the Colts did. Still, I think the Rams get their second win of the year, meaning that everyone else in the NFC West will still be behind a game, no matter the results.

Prediction: Los Angeles Rams 24 – Washington 17

And I don’t think the Rams stop there

At the moment, I expect the Los Angeles Rams to be 3-0 (racking up another win next Thursday against the 49ers) before heading to Jerryworld to take on the Dallas Cowboys.

That means when the Seattle Seahawks fly down to the City of Angels to face off against the Rams on October 8th, they both may very well be 3-1, and fighting for the top spot in the NFC West. The Cardinals have a date with Dallas at the end of the September, and play the Philadelphia Eagles the weekend the Seahawks and Rams square off, meaning Arizona is probably nursing, at best, a 2-2 record going into Philadelphia, and possibly a 2-3 record afterwards.

Related Story: A mid-week Seahawks injury report

And I think its safe the say no one is worried by the 49ers. By the time they get their crack at the Colts in early October (when Luck is expected to return), everyone in the NFC West should have teed off on them, starting this weekend with what is likely to be a miserable defeat at the hands of the Seattle Seahawks. (Go Hawks!)