Let's be straight — Kyle Shanahan might be the best NFL head coach these days. Let's be more straight — he can win with any quarterback. From Matt Ryan to Jimmy Garoppolo, he's just magic. And, no, that's not shot at Ryan. The point is, Shanahan can seemingly make any quarterback under his command look good, and in doing so, keep a depleted San Francisco 49ers team chugging along.
Best friend Sean McVay is Shanahan's Californian coaching rival down South, and also has a reputation for making quarterbacks look good. Remember, before McVay, Jared Goff was a bust.
After McVay, Goff went to a Super Bowl and has played lights out in Detroit. Now, McVay has the wily veteran Matt Stafford, a Super Bowl ring, and a Los Angeles Rams team right in the thick of their division.
Seattle Seahawks, Rams, and 49ers all have to keep winning to keep pace with each other
Then there's Mike Macdonald — also a quarterback whisperer? Or does that credit go to Kevin O'Connell up in Minnesota? Who's to say?
Either way, Macdonald is getting some of the best football out of Sam Darnold and his Seattle Seahawks in general during his second season as head coach. The Seattle Seahawks weren't expected to be one of the league's better teams this season, yet here they are. So, what do these three division rivals all have in common?
How the 49ers are 5-2 and standing equal with the Rams and Seahawks is shocking considering their significant injuries and Mac Jones playing quarterback. Then again, if you believe Shanahan to be the magician that he is, perhaps there is no shock at all. Nevertheless, that's where these teams stand, though, with identical records heading into Week 8 of the season.
The Seahawks' Week 8 is their bye week before they head to the nation's capital to take on the Washington Commanders in Week 9. They'll enter that week at 5-2, while the 49ers (the Rams are also on a bye) will either improve to 6-2 or drop to 5-3 this coming weekend. Seattle and LA will be rooting for a 49ers loss. Even if that does happen, this race will still be tight as ever down the stretch.
Seattle will likely never have a moment's peace from here on out, given how their division has gone so far. No team has a stranglehold, so the pressure to play solid football every Sunday going forward is the only option. They can't afford to drop the ball offensively or defensively.
On Monday, they dropped the ball offensively, despite putting up 27 points on the Houston Texans. Sam Darnold didn't have a great game, his first rough game of the season. It was the 'Seahawks' defense that stepped up, but then again, Seattle's defense has stepped up for the most part all season.
Getting shelled by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers two weeks ago aside, Macdonald has his defensive squad playing solid.
Dropping games due to poor football isn't an option, especially considering the 49ers already have one up on the Seahawks and are 3-0 in the division overall. After their bye, Seattle has four divisional matchups remaining, including one against the Arizona Cardinals (a must-win for Seattle, as they have no business losing), another against the 49ers, and two against the Rams.
Each game against the latter two could be a toss-up. As it stands, we don't know whether it will be Jones or Brock Purdy under center. Either way, the Seahawks will have to contend with Christian McCaffrey. Against the Rams, Matt Stafford is playing like an MVP, and their offense, if fully healthy, can be unstoppable.
There is no indication right now that either the Rams or the 49ers are going to significantly drop off, unless injuries become bigger than the teams. Again, how are the 49ers doing this? Nevertheless, like their rivals, the Seahawks must continue to win to keep pace in the division. They have an open window, and they're playing good enough to fly right through it.
For many years, the AFC North ruled the NFL as the toughest division. Not anymore. That status belongs to the NFC West these days. These days, three of the four teams have mirroring records, and three of the four teams are playing playoff-contending football. It will be a dogfight, and the Seahawks have a legitimate opportunity to be the last dog standing on the West Coast.